Govt Seems Willing To Meet Halfway, Farmers Insist On Complete Rollback

Next round of talk is scheduled for December 5

NEW DELHI: After being locked in with 40 farmer leaders from across the country in a conference room at the Vigyan Bhawan here, the Centre on Thursday walked out of the fourth round of talks over the three new farm laws, offering the perception that they are willing to meet the farmers halfway on several of their demands.

But halfway is not something the farmers are ready to settle for and have said the meeting was inconclusive and more needed to be discussed at the next round of talks scheduled for 2 pm on Saturday, December 5.

After Thursday’s talks, Som Prakash, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry said, “Points of discussion have been prepared. Discussions will be held on these points on December 5 and we hope that the agitation will end the same day.”

What the govt is willing to give

While Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar came out of the talks telling the media that they were constructive, he also gave way that the Centre was willing to climb down on demands of assuring Minimum Support Price, ensuring the Agriculture Produce Market Committees are not supplanted by private mandis and providing a room for raising disputes at the judicial level before a court instead of at the Sub-Divisional Magistrate-level.

“People have reservations on MSP (Minimum Support Price). I would like to reiterate that the MSP system will continue and we will assure farmers about it,” Tomar said, with other government officials adding that legally provisioning the MSP might just end the deadlock at the Capital’s borders.