Farmer protest: Unions reject Centre's offer to form panel, talks fail

New Delhi

The government, on its part, rejected the demand for repealing the laws and rather asked the farmers’ bodies to identify specific issues related to the newly enacted Acts and submit those by Wednesday for consideration and discussion in the next round of talks on Thursday. Farmer unions said protests will now intensify across the country until their demands are met.

After the meeting, which was attended by 35 farm leaders and took place on the sixth day of large-scale protests by farmer groups at various borders of the national capital, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) said in a statement that the talks remained inconclusive and the government’s proposal was not acceptable to the farm unions.

It said the farmer leaders rejected the government proposal to form a five-member committee to look into the objections and study the concerns, while asserting that such committees have led to no results in the past. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who led the talks from the government side, said they had a detailed discussion and the meeting will resume on December 3.

Sources said the Ministers were of the view that it was difficult to reach a decision while interacting with such large groups and therefore they suggested meeting with a smaller group, but the farmer leaders were firm that they would meet collectively only.

Sportspersons to return awards

Several former sportspersons including Padma Shri and Arjuna awardees have extended their support to the agitating farmers and said they will return their awards in protest against the “force” used against the peasants en route to Delhi. Among them are Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee wrestler Kartar Singh, Arjuna awardee basketball player Sajjan Singh Cheema and Arjuna awardee hockey player Rajbir Kaur.