Farmers protest: Indian govt to hold ninth round of talks

The ninth round of talks between the government and protesting farmer union will take place on Friday as scheduled. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Centre is looking forward to positive discussions with farmers.

Tomar said the government is ready to hold discussions with farmer union leaders with an open mind. Earlier, talks between the farmer unions and the government did not make much headway in breaking the deadlock.

Earlier this week the Supreme Court-appointed a four-member expert panel to hear farmers’ grievances. However, the farmer union dismissed the Supreme Court-appointed four-member panel to end the stalemate. However, the unions have confirmed they will not pull out from talks.

Meanwhile, the farmer union leaders also appealed to all protesters to maintain peace and harmony during the tractor parade on Republic Day. Bharat Kisan Union (BKU) leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said the details of the tractor parade in Delhi will be finalised next week after the talks with the government.

The BKU leader also appealed to farmers to act as volunteers and keep an eye on anyone trying to defame the struggle saying “we can win only through peaceful means”.

The three controversial laws are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.