Centre holds fifth round of talks with farmers in New Delhi; Agriculture Minister exudes confidence of farmers ending agitation

Fifth round of talks between the Centre and Farmers’ Unions is being held in New Delhi this afternoon. Talking to the media this morning, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar exuded confidence that farmers will think positively and end their agitation.

The previous round of talks were held in a cordial, transparent  and frank atmosphere on the 3rd of this month. Representatives of 40 Farmers’ Unions took part in the talks with the Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways Minister Piyush Goel and Minister of State for Commerce Som Prakash.

The Agriculture Minister had reiterated the Government’s commitment to the welfare of the farmers. He requested the representatives of the Unions to put forth their points of view and flag the issues which they felt were contentious. He assured the Unions that the MSP will remain and therefore the farmers need not fear that it will be done away with.

The representatives of the farmers unions raised the question of the constitutional validity of the three laws. The Government side explained the constitutional provisions under which the Central Government legislated these laws. The farmers brought out issues related to the APMCs. They said there has to be a level playing field between Agricultural Produce Market Committees, APMCs and Private Markets and Trade Yards. They also said that there is a need for proper registration of Trade  outside APMCs.

The  Agriculture Minister thanked the Farmers organizations for flagging their concerns and assured them that the government is always ready to listen to the farmers.