Farmers' Protest: As Impasse Continues For 54th Straight Day, Farmers Gear Up For 10th Round Of Talks With Centre Today

The protesting farmers are adamant on repealing the three Union farm laws and demanding a legal guarantee for procurement of crops at the Minimum Support Price.

Farmers during their ongoing protest against the new farm laws at Singhu Border, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary)(PTI01 19 2021 000132B)

Farmers' Protests: The protesting farmers who are camping at Delhi’s border for around 2 months now will again meet with the Central leadership on Wednesday for the tenth time. The purpose of the meeting will be to overcome the deadlock over the three controversial agrarian laws passed by the government. It comes five days after the ninth round of talks on January 15, which remained inconclusive.

The protesting farmers are adamant on repealing the three Union farm laws and demanding a legal guarantee for procurement of crops at the Minimum Support Price.

The 10th round of talks  is scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. at Vigyan Bhawan. It was earlier scheduled on January 19, but was later postpones to Januay 20 due to some unavoidable reasons, Agriculture Ministry said.

Stating in the letter that the meeting would be held on January 20, the farmers' leaders have been requested to attend the meet.

With a view to improve the agriculture and allied sectors, the Central government implemented the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020. Though the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of these laws and set up an expert committee to resolve the issue, the Central government has kept open the channel of dialogue with the farmers' unions.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who is leading the negotiations on behalf of the government, has repeatedly reiterated that whatever provisions would be appropriate in the interests of the farmers of the country, the Narendra Modi-led government would consider including them in the new farm laws.

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