NEW DELHI: The deadlock between the farmers’ leaders and the government over the three farm laws seems to continue as the 11th round of talks on Friday at Vigyan Bhawan lasted till lunch only and ended without a solution.
No date for the next round of talks has been decided yet and the meeting will be held whenever farmer leaders are ready for a dialogue on the proposal given by the government in the 10th round of talks, on January 20.
The ministers came to the hall for five minutes after lunch but no discussion happened. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar clearly refused to repeal the laws while farmers’ leaders said that they will continue their protest.
Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka told IANS that Friday’s meeting was very disappointing. “At lunch, the ministers asked us to discuss the issues among ourselves and left. We kept waiting for them for more than two hours after lunch and later the meeting was called off.”
Another leader Harpreet Singh said the discussion was held for only 20-25 minutes before lunch. “When the ministers came back after lunch, they asked us to rethink about rejecting the government’s proposal to suspend the new farm laws for one and half years. Apart from this, the government cannot do anything. After this, they left.”
Farmers’ leader Balwant Singh said the stalemate continues after Friday’s meeting as the government has clearly refused to repeal the laws while the farmers have said that they will continue the protest. “The Union Agriculture Minister said that consider the proposal that we have given as we don’t have a better proposal than this. If you (farmers) have any proposal, then tell us, the government will consider it.”
On the other hand, Tomar told farmers, “The government is thankful for your cooperation. There is no problem with the laws. Considering your demands, we had made a proposal for you but you couldn’t arrive at any decision. We will discuss it again but as of now no date is confirmed for a future meeting.”