Fifth round of talks between Centre and farmers to be held in New Delhi today

The 5th round of talks between the government and the representatives of farmers’ unions is scheduled to be held in New Delhi today to address the issues concerning them.

The fourth round of talks between the two sides was held on Thursday in which the representatives of forty Farmers’ Unions participated in a dialogue with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways Minister Piyush Goel and Minister of State for Commerce Som Prakash.

Senior officials from the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution also participated in the dialogue. The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and transparent manner. During the meeting, Agriculture Minister Tomar reiterated the Government’s commitment to the welfare of the farmers.

Mr Tomar assured the Farmer Unions that the Minimum Support Price, MSP will continue and therefore the farmers need not fear that it will go away. The representatives of the farmers unions raised the question of the constitutional validity of the three farm laws to which the Government side explained the constitutional provisions under which the Central Government legislated these laws.

The farmers brought out issues related to the APMCs. They said there has to be a level playing field between Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and Private Markets and Trade Yards.