Farmers-Govt meet: Centre bids to form panel to break deadlock; eyes on SC on Jan 5

Farmer leaders said the government said it needs to consult internally and thereafter it would come back to the unions

The seventh round of talks between agitating farmers and the government remained deadlocked on Monday with the farmers sticking to their demand for rollback of agricultural reforms.

Farmer leaders said the government sought more time for internal consultations and the next meeting is scheduled for January 8.

“We will continue our protests till the farm laws are repealed,” Rakesh Tikait, President of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, told reporters after the meeting.

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All eyes would be on the Supreme Court on Tuesday when the Chief Justice’s court would hear the eight petitions challenging the three farm sector laws and related matters.

The apex court had asked the agitating farmers’ unions to be made a party to the proceedings, but the protesters insisted that they had not sought a legal remedy and were seeking a solution from the executive.

“We wanted to have a clause-by-clause discussion on the three laws with farmer unions. No solution was reached as farmers’ unions insisted on the repeal of the laws,” Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters after the nearly four-hour meeting with 40 farmer leaders.

The Centre appeared to have adopted a conciliatory approach as it agreed to the demands of the farmers’ representatives to begin the meeting with a tribute to more than 50 farmers who died during the agitation that entered the 40th day on Monday.

Read | Farm Laws: Protesting farmer turns his truck into home at Singhu border

The meeting began with paying respects to the farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing protest, sources said.

In Monday's talks, the two sides did not even discuss another key demand of farmers for a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement system.

Unlike the last round of talks on December 30, the ministers did not join the union leaders for the langar food and were seen having their own discussion separately during the break, which lasted for almost two hours.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various Delhi borders for over a month against the three laws.

They have stayed put despite heavy rains and waterlogging at protest sites over the last couple of days and severe cold weather conditions prevailing in and around the national capital.

“The minister wanted a clause-wise discussion. We rejected it because we want a complete rollback of the laws,” Yudhvir Singh, leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Union said.

Last month, the government had sent a draft proposal to the protesting farmer unions, suggesting seven-eight amendments to the new laws and a written assurance on the MSP procurement system. The government has ruled out a repeal of the three agri laws.

The All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), in the meantime, issued a press statement condemning the police action against protesting farmers in Punjab and Haryana and a ban on protests and dharnas imposed by the Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh government.

It also said that an affidavit filed by Reliance Industries in the Punjab and Haryana High Court was "a ploy to save its business".

(With inputs from PTI)