New Delhi: Meeting between farmer leaders and central government held for the fifth time on Saturday at Vigyan Bhawan decided that the next round of talks to be held on December 9th, on the request of all stakeholders.
"Central Government has said that they will send us a proposal on December 9th. We will discuss it amongst ourselves after which a meeting with them will be held that day," reacted farmers' leaders after concluding meeting.
According to reports the centre government will prepare a draft and consult the prepared draft with the states too.
After the meeting, Rakesh Tikait, Office bearer of Bharatiya Kisan Union informed that "discussions were held on MSP too.He said that they asked that we should also take up laws and talk about their roll back.
He also said that "Bharat Bandh declared on on 8th Dec will go on as announced".
According to an ANI report, during the meeting the farmer leaders warned the center that "we won't take path of non-violence. Intelligence Bureau will inform you what we're doing at protest site,"
"We have material with us to last a year. We've been on road for past several days. If govt wants us to stay on road, we've no problem." added the leaders at the meeting.
The farmer leaders also added that they don't want corporate farming.They argued that the government will benefit from the controversial law, not farmers, reports ANI
During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar appealed the farmer leaders to asksenior citizens and children, at the protest site, to go home.
Earlier, during the meeting, Union leaders said they had their own food and tea during a break, rather than having what was arranged by the government atthe meeting venue,reports PTI. During their last meeting with Centre government held on Thursday also, the farmer leaders had their own lunch, tea and even water
Union leaders ferried their own tea and food from their langar (community kitchen) at Singhu border, where thousands of farmers are protesting for over a week. Farmers' leaders had earlier on Thursday told the government to focus on resolving the issues instead of trying to be a good host by offering lunch.
The fifth round of talks began at 2.30 PM and was attended by 40 representatives of various farmer organisations. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding talks with the representatives of the farmer groups at the Vigyan Bhawan.
Meanwhile farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border vowed to celebrate Republic Day there on January 26 if the government does not accept their demand to repeal the three agricultural laws and guarantee the minimum support price (MSP).
Earlier in the day, farmers blocked NH 24 that connects Meerut with Delhi.
The farmers protest entered the 10th day on Saturday. Thousands of farmers have been camping at various borders of the national capital as part of their protest against the laws.
Enacted in September, the laws have been presented by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector by removing middlemen and allowing farmers to sell anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have been worried that the new laws will eliminate the safety cushion of a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and procurement system, while rendering ineffective the mandi system that ensures earnings for various stakeholders in the farm sector.
On Wednesday, agitating farmers demanded that the Centre convene a special session of Parliament and repeal the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
(With inputs from agencies)