A day ahead of the the eleventh round of talks between representatives of the central government and farmer unions, the farmers declared following an internal meeting that they do not accept the government’s offer to put the farm laws on hold for 1.5 years. The farmers remain adamant on their demand for repeal of the laws.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha told reporters, after holding several rounds of internal meetings, that it was a unanimous decision to reject the government offer, adding that the proposal was “unacceptable because their demand is a repeal of the laws”.
Tens of thousands of farmers have been staging a protest near Delhi borders seeking a repeal of the laws. The protesting farmers have reservations over the benefits of MSP, once the new laws are implemented.
“During discussions, we said that govt is ready to put on hold the farm laws for one or one-and-a-half years. I’m happy that farmer unions have taken this very seriously and said they would consider it tomorrow and convey their decision on January 22,” agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar told reporters after the meeting on Thursday.