BackGovt asks farmers to rethink offer
The government offered to suspend the three laws for up to 18 months at a meeting with farm unions on 20 Jan
PremiumThe government told farm unions on Friday that it has nothing more to offer other than the temporary suspension of farm laws that protesters have already rejected.
The 11th round of talks between farm unions and the government failed to end the ongoing impasse with farmers pressing on with their demand for a repeal of the laws passed last year.
A date for the next meeting is yet to be fixed.
“We told farm unions to reconsider our proposal. If they agree, we can meet again," said agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar. “We gave many proposals, but a resolution is not possible when the sanctity of agitation is lost." He alleged forces working against farmers’ interests are trying to ensure that the agitation continues.
The Centre offered to suspend the laws for up to 18 months at a meeting with farm unions on 20 January. Earlier, it had offered to amend provisions to allay farmers’ fears. Farm unions rejected both.
“Today’s meeting was a complete breakdown of talks. The government said the offer of suspension is the best they can do, while we conveyed that it was a unanimous decision of unions to reject the offer," said Kavitha Kuruganti, part of the 41-member delegation negotiating with the government.
On 12 January the Supreme Court had suspended the three laws till further orders and constituted an expert committee to submit a report within two months. However, farm unions have refused to appear before the committee and said they will only negotiate with the Union government.
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