Farmers ready for talks on Dec 29

New Delhi: The protesting farmer unions on Saturday decided to resume the dialogue with the Centre and 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 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 the government when it calls us for talks," Tikait said.

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.

Meanwhile, carrying ration and other essential items with them, several batches of farmers from Punjab headed towards Delhi borders on Saturday to join the protest at the doorstep of the national capital. According to farmer union leaders, peasants from various places, including Sangrur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur and Bathinda districts were headed towards Singhu and Tikri borders.

Despite fog and biting cold wave conditions in many parts of Punjab, they started their journey on Saturday. "We will rest only when the Modi government repeals the farm laws," said an elderly farmer headed to Singhu border from Amritsar.