'Won't Repeal, Ready To Discuss Provisions With Unions At Midnight': Narendra Singh Tomar On Agri Laws

The government and unions held 11 rounds of talks to end the farmers' protest. The discussions on farm laws have not resumed after January.

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New Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has once again ruled out repealing the three agrarian laws, stating that the government is ready to resume talks with protesting farmers' unions to discuss the legislation.

The government and unions held 11 rounds of talks to end the farmers' protest before the discussions hit a roadblock as farmers again turned down the centre's proposal after the last meeting held on January 22

"The Government of India is ready to talk to former organisations at any point about the provisions of the agrarian laws. We welcome them," the Union Agriculture Minister tweeted along with a video clip of the statement.

"Except for repeal, if any farmers' union wants to talk on provisions of the Act even at midnight, Narendra Singh Tomar will welcome it," he says in the video.

Besides Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister Hardeep S Puri also assuaged the farmers as he said: "Prime Minister and his government have made it clear that if you have any doubt regarding farm laws, we're ready to sit with you. We're open to suggestions".

In recent developments, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin who met PM Narendra Modi on Thursday said that issues raised by him included the withdrawal of 3 agricultural laws.

On the other hand, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said: "Farmers should understand that there is no harm in three farm laws. Let the farm laws be implemented. If they are found to be not beneficial, the government will be ready to work on them". 

Farmers' Protest & Centre's Proposal

The three laws - 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 - were passed by the Parliament in September last year.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi borders in protest against these three laws as they fear the legislation will end state procurement of crops at MSP and the mandi system - leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The government has been refuting these apprehensions.

Union ministers, including Tomar and Food Minister Piyush Goyal, have held 11 rounds of talks with the protesting farmer unions. After the last meeting on January 22, the negotiations with 41 farmer groups hit a roadblock as the unions rejected the Centre's proposal of putting the laws on suspension.

The Centre proposed to suspend the contentious laws for 1-1.5 years and form a joint committee to find common ground, asking protesting farmers to end the deadlock at Delhi's borders and go back to their respective native regions.

In January, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the concerns.

Continuing the agitation, as the protest completes 7 months, Samyukta Kisan Morcha announced that it will organise protests outside Raj Bhawans across the country on June 26. "The day will be observed as Kheti Bachao, Loktantra Bachao Diwas": Inderjit Singh, All India Kisan Sabha said.