Talks between Centre and Farmers End in Deadlock as Agitators Stick to Repeal Demand, to Meet Again on December 9

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Dec 5: Yet another round of talks, the fifth in the series so far, between the central government and the agitating farmers ended in a deadlock on Saturday with the agriculturists refusing to budge even a centimeter from their demand for repeal of the three contentious farm laws and the government seeking more time for “internal discussions” before taking a decision on their principal demand.

After the fifth round failed to yield any tangible result, the government proposed to hold another round of talks on December 9 and appealed to the agitation leaders to send back home the elderly, women and children squatting on the borders of Delhi since November 26 in support of their demand for repeal of the acts adopted by Parliament in September.

The farm leaders attending the talks said the farmers had adopted “maun vrat” (Vowed for Silence) refusing to make comment unless the government decided in “black and white” yes or no to their demand for repeal of the acts. “No other solutions include assurance of holding on with the Minimum Support Price” of the agricultural produces were acceptable to the agitating farmers,” the leaders said. At the protest dharna sites on the Delhi borders, several placards were seen the farmers carrying announcing their “maun vrat.” Thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of the national capital seeking repeal of three farm laws

The official sources said the government proposed another round of meeting on December 9 next week as it sought some time from the unions to present a concrete proposal after further consultations within the government.

Agriculture Ministry later tweeted that the fifth round of talks had ended. The union leaders said they did not want anything less than the complete repeal of the laws, which they claim are the laws meant to end the mandi system and minimum support price procurement system to give for benefits of corporates.

As their meeting with three Union Ministers, including Mr. Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Parkash, continued for more than four hours, farmer leaders told the government to reply in “black and white” that whether it will repeal the laws or not.

Gurlabh Singh Mahal, legal advisor to Punjab Kisan Union, said the farmer leaders wanted the government to answer in ‘Yes or No’ and decided to go on a ‘maun vrat’ after the government did not reply to their pinpointed demand.

Before the fifth round of talks began at the Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi, the union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi apparently to seek his opinion on the farmers’ insistence for the repeal of the acts which he had earlier claimed were “enacted by his government for the benefit of the farmers.”

Four rounds of negotiations, conducted between three Union ministers and farmers’ representatives, have so far failed to break the deadlock between the two sides.

The Centre has agreed to review the recently enacted legislation and bring amendments if required to address the farmers’ demands. The farmers, however, said that they did not want amendments to the new laws but want them rolled back entirely.