Centre-farmer talks remain inconclusive again; next meet on Dec 9

Even after four hours of consultation for the third time after the ‘Dilli Chalo’ protests began, the farmers and the Centre could not reach common ground on Saturday and the next meeting will be held on December 9.

New Delhi:As the fifth round of meeting between protesting farmers and the central government once again failed to reach any conclusion, the next meeting has been scheduled on December 9.

According to sources, Saturday's meeting with the Centre went on for more than four hours and farmers' leaders have expressed a sense of exasperation over the union leaders' refusal to accept their demands.

Meanwhile, the Central Government had asked for some more time to present a concrete proposal to which the farmers' leaders have agreed.

Speaking to ETV Bharat, Bharatiya Kisan Union, President Shiv Kumar Kakkaji said," In today's meeting, the government's stance has shown positive. Farmer leaders appeared satisfied with the behaviour of the Union Agriculture Minister, but expressed their dissatisfaction for not coming to conclusions even after long rounds of discussions."

"During the meeting, the farmers raised their demands for giving constitutional status to the MSP and the Union Agriculture Minister said that they would also have to discuss with other departments and the ministry to discuss the legislation for which they need time. After that, it was decided that the next meeting will be held on December 9, in which the government will clarify its stand on the demand for enactment of legislation for MSP," Kakkaji said.

"The government has been continuously assuring that the system of MSP will remain, but as of now, it is only a public announcement. The leaders staged a silent protest during the meeting, seeking a clear reply in 'yes' or 'no' from the government on the said Acts. As the talks headed for another deadlock, the Centre once again called for a meeting on December 9 and agreed to come up in that meeting with concrete proposals to modify the laws," he added.

Meanwhile, another leader of Bharatiya Kisan Union, Shivkumar Sharma said that if the government brings the MSP law on the demand of farmers and is ready to bring other amendments also, then the existing law will no longer matter.

In such a situation, the government should repeal these laws because farmers do not need any of these laws, he added.

Reportedly, the representatives of thousands of agitating farmers sitting at various borders of the national capital since November 26 said their protest would continue and their call for a 'Bharat Bandh' on December 8, a day before the sixth round of talks – the bandh has received the support of trade unions and various other organisations – would be observed with full force.