The five-hour-long meeting, held after a delay of over three hours, was convened to resolve the ongoing stand-off between the farmers and the Centre. A fourth round of talks will now be held on Sunday.
Chandigarh: Some breakthrough seems to have been achieved in the five-hour long talks between farmer union leaders and the Centre on Thursday night. But the farmers are unwilling to withdraw their protest until the government assures them of legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for all crops, a special report by Ruchika M Khanna in The Tribune Chandigarh, says.
The five-hour-long meeting between the union leaders and a central team comprising three Union ministers began here after a delay of over three hours. Convened to resolve the ongoing stand-off between the farmers and the Centre, a fourth round of talks between the two sides will now be held on Sunday.
However, the central team, comprising Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, said it could not be done immediately and needed an expert committee to study and implement this.
They stressed that since the last session of the current Parliament was over, it would not be possible to immediately frame a law on the subject.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Finance Minister Harpal Cheema, besides top officers from the police and the civil administration were also present at the meeting.
Ever since the “Dilli Chalo” call was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha, this was the third round of talks between the two sides.
Two days since the protest began, farmers have been stopped in Punjab, with the Haryana Police blocking all entry points into their territory to prevent them from reaching Delhi.
In the melee that has followed after the protesters tried to break the multi-tier barricades at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders, many of them have suffered injuries from tear gas shelling and rubber pellets.
As the meeting began tonight, the farmer union leaders objected to the alleged abuse of power against them by the Haryana Police. They also brought empty shells fired from drones and pictures of injured farmers to show the ministers.
The leaders reportedly alleged that the weapons used by the police were similar to those used by the army in a war.
“We are protesting for our rights. Then why is such force being used to curb our peaceful march. Are we the enemies of the state?” the farmer leaders reportedly asked the Union ministers. They also objected to their social media accounts being withheld.
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