Sreya Kanugula
The stalemate between the Centre and the farmer protestors extends as the unions continue to seek nothing but the laws being repealed once and for all, while the government continues to negotiate with them.
The ninth round of discussions is underway on January 15th, 2021 starting at 12:00 pm between the Centre and the farmer unions.
This is in the aftermath of the SC ruling which concluded in the impasse appointment of a 4-member committee panel to look over the new farm laws.
The Union Minister of Agriculture, Narendra Singh Tomar along with the Union Minister of Railways, Commerce and Food, Piyush Goyal and the Minister in charge of State for Commerce as well as an MP hailing from Punjab, Som Prakash are in charge of holding the talks on behalf of the Centre.
They are holding this round of discussion with the 40 farmer union representatives at Vigyan Bhawan located in India’s capital.
On January 14th, Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the discussions are going to be conducted with an open mind from the side of the government.
He said, “The government’s ninth round of negotiations with protesting farmer unions will take place as scheduled on Friday (Jan 15th) and the Centre is hopeful of positive discussions.”
It has been maintained by the farmer unions that they will attend discussion rounds, even if they are not willing to appear in front of the panel appointed by the SC. They thoroughly questioned the views of the panel members comprising it.
On January 14th, two days after being appointed as a member of the expert committee ordered by the SC, Bhupinder Singh Mann, the then president of BKU and All India Kisan Coordination Committee’s chairman recused himself from the committee and stated that he will always stand with his farmers and Punjab.
The committee had been tasked with listening to the protesting farmers’ grievances on the newly passed agricultural laws as well as the government’s argument upon them.
Mr Mann’s exit calls into question on who will replace him as a panel member. The process was complicated further by the farmer unions’ outright rejection of the committee as well.
Meanwhile, as the discussions go forth, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi stated his support on the 15th of January for the protests pouring out against the farm laws.
He also talked about the rising prices of fuel across the country and asked the common people to align themselves with the farmers’ “Kisan Adhikar” campaign and “Satyagraha” against the BJP government.
It was also stated that the Congress party is observing 15th as Kisan Adhikar Divas and will hold several protests in support of the farmers at all state capitals.