The Ninth round of talks on Farm Laws end but the deadlock continues

The ninth round of talks between the Central Government and Farmers Unions over the newly enacted farm laws failed to resolve the deadlock as a consensus could not be reached amongst the two sides. While the Farmers remain defiant and want the repeal of the laws and MSP guarantee before continuing the talks the Government is also not willing to give in to their demands.

This was the first meeting after the Supreme Court formed a committee to look into the grievances of the farmers and their rightful demands from the Government.

The talks with around 40 farmers unions were held for around 4 hours with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Prakash, who is an MP from Punjab who was the representatives of the Government.

Urging #farmer unions to form an informal group among themselves to prepare concrete proposals for the next meeting, #Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said discussions took place at the ninth round of talks but could not reach a decisive stage.https://t.co/hpehtamgUd

— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 15, 2021

The people were asked to join the ‘Satyagraha’ of the farmers against the Modi Government by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The Congress is observing the day as Kisan Adhikar Diwas and is taking out protests marches in all state capitals. Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the three Farm Laws have been brought to finish the farmers. “If we don’t stop this now, it will continue to happen in other sectors too. Narendra Modi does not respect the farmers. The farmers will neither deter nor fear,” ANI quoted him as saying.

The next round of talks will be held on January 19 at 12 pm. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar quoted to ANI that the government will present its side before the committee constituted by the Supreme Court when asked.