Deadlock Continues As Govt Says Farm Laws Won’t Be Repealed; Next Meeting On Jan 8

Picture courtesy: The Tribune India

New Delhi: The seventh meeting between the farmers’ union leaders and Union government on Monday failed to break the impasse over the contentious farm laws.

Both parties stuck to their basic stand, with the government ruling out withdrawal of the three agricultural laws and the protesters refusing to call off the agitation till that happens, Hindustan Times reported.

The two parties have agreed to meet again on January 8.

Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Som Prakash told the delegation of 41 farm union leaders that the government was prepared to review any clause the protesters had a problem with.

“The government said it wanted to go clause by clause of the three farm laws. It said laws can’t be repealed. We told them that there is only one way, which is to repeal the laws and bring a law guaranteeing minimum support prices,” Joginder Singh Ugrahan, one of the union leaders present at the meeting, told HT.

A two-minute silence was observed before the start of the meeting at Vigyan Bhavan to pay tribute to the 50 farmers who have died during the agitation which has been continuing since November 26 at different points of Delhi border.

The ministers, however, did not join share the farmers for lunch, unlike during the previous meeting five days ago.