New Delhi: The ninth round of talks between the farm leaders and the union government commenced on Friday in the presence of Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and 41 representatives of farmers ended without any solid conclusion.
Farmer leader Dr. Darshanpal was quoted by NDTV as saying, “It was a 120 per cent failure. We suggested that the government remove the changes made to the Essential Commodities Act instead of scrapping it altogether. But the Agriculture Minister has not said anything on this.”
However, the Agriculture Minister suggested that discussions with Farmers Unions can also take place in an informal group so that a way forward can be found.
He said that in a democracy the government honours the Supreme Court’s directions. Each state in the country has different circumstances and a lot of farmers across the country support these new farm laws. The procurement of farmers’ products at Minimum Support Price (MSP) has increased during this season and procurement centres have also increased.
Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution also explained the provisions of the Essential Commodities Amendment Acton, 2020 during the discussion. He also elaboon rated how this Act will benefit the Agriculture sector and farmers.
It was mutually decided that the next round of talks will be held on 19th January 2021 as dialogue is the only way forward.