Govt ready for talks as farmers protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 21

Amid the ongoing farmers’ protest at the Jantar Mantar, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said the government is ready to talk to farmers if they tell them which specific provisions of the three laws they have objections to.

"Even today if they tell us as to which specific provision of the laws they have objections to we are ready to talk to them," Tomar said as farmers held the protest at the heavily guarded Jantar Mantar.

"The country is witness that the laws are pro-farmers and are beneficial to them," Tomar said, speaking outside Parliament.

Tomar has repeatedly made similar assertions in the past. 

Recently, he told Parliament that instead of insisting on repeal, farmer unions should discuss their concerns on clauses in the legislation so that they could be resolved.

In a written reply to Congress MPs Manish Tewari and Behanan Benny, Tomar said: “In all rounds of discussions with the farmer unions, the government had stressed that instead of insisting on the demand for repeal of the Acts they should discuss their concerns on the clauses of farm Acts, so that their concerns can be resolved.”

Tomar said the government has been engaged in “serious, sensitive and active discussions with the farmer unions to resolve the issues”.

“During various rounds of discussions, the government requested the farmer unions to discuss the provisions of the farm laws, so that if there is an objection to any provision, they could move towards its resolution. But the farmer unions insisted only on the repeal of the farm laws,” he said.

The Congress MPs wanted to know whether the government was “inclined to repeal the three farm laws” and “whether any specific proposals to meet the demands of the farmers are being discussed”.