Farmer unions agrees for next round of talks with Centre on Dec 29

The protesting farmer unions on Saturday decided to resume the dialogue with the Centre and have proposed December 29 as the date for the next round of talks, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said.

The decision was taken during a meeting of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions camping at various Delhi border points protesting against the three contentious farm laws for the last one month.

So far, five rounds of talks have taken place between the protesting unions and the government but a stalemate has continued with farmers refusing to accept anything less than the repeal of the laws, which they fear would leave them at the mercy of corporates by weakening mandi and MSP systems.

In a letter to Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Vivek Aggarwal, the body said, “We



propose that the next meeting between the farmers’ representatives and the Government of India be held on December 29, 2020 at 11 am.”

“As the government is willing to hold talks with us and asking us for date and our issues, we have proposed to hold dialogue on December 29. Now, the ball is in the court of government when it calls us for talks,” Tikait was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Tikait, a senior leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union, however, said the modalities for the repeal of three farm laws and guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) should be part of the agenda for the discussion with the government.

After multiple discussions between the two sides failed to reach a conclusion, the Centre had invited the farmers’ organisation to engage in more talks with them to resolve the gridlock over the laws.