Our ghar wapsi after your law wapsi

New Delhi: Protesting farmers on Friday stuck to their key demands of repealing the farm laws as the only way to end protests.

During the eighth round of talks between the farmers' representatives and the three Central ministers, the farmers said their "ghar wapsi" will happen only after "law wapsi" but the Centre insisted talks must be limited to contentious clauses and ruled out a complete withdrawal of the Acts.

At the eighth round of negotiations with the 41-member representative group of protesting farmers, the government said the farm reform laws have been welcomed by a large section of farmers in various states and asked the unions to think about the interests of the entire country.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding talks with unions at Vigyan Bhawan in the heart of the national capital, while thousands of farmers have stayed put at various Delhi borders to protest against the three laws they find pro-corporate and against the existing mandi and MSP procurement systems.

"Discussion on the laws was taken up but no decision could be made. The government urged that if farmer unions give an option other than repealing, we'll consider it. But no option could be presented, so the meeting was concluded, and it was decided to hold the next meeting on January 15," Tomar said later at a press meet.