Ready for talks, but govt needs to come up with concrete proposal: Farmers' Unions

The JAC has expressed regret on the Agriculture Ministry's letter sent to Dr Darshanpal Singh on December 20, asking that the opinion expressed in our previous replies was of one faction among 40 farmer unions.

We want to let the Centre understand that consensus reached after democratic discussions between all the unions and it was not the government's job to raise a figure at the decision, said the JAC.

Briefing the media after the deliberation in JAC, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav said, "Farmer Unions are ready to talk to the government and are waiting for the government to come to the table with an open mind."

Taking a dig at the Centre, he further said that at one hand, they offer talk, but at the same time, they are trying to 'malign' this agitation.

In the latest communication from the Government, they wanted to know what we want.

"Are they trying to fool us? Right from the beginning, we have made our demand clear in all the five rounds of discussion with the Government and as well as in the meeting held with Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji," Yadav added.

"Once again, we reiterate that all three agriculture laws must be repealed and we do not want any amendment to these acts. The Government must come up with a law that will provide the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops," Yadav added.

"We have already told the Home Minister that protesting farmers would not accept the amendments, a farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka said.

Talking to UNI, another farmer leader from Haryana, Gurunam Singh Chaduni, said, "We have already conveyed our demand to the Centre. We demand the repeal of these three anti- farmer laws which are aimed at benefiting the corporate."

"The Government is trying to mislead the nation that we do not want to talk, this is not true, we are open to talk but why are they imposing these Acts on us. The farmers across the nation, have rejected these laws," he added.

Meanwhile, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) on Monday said that ‘KISAN DIWAS’ was observed by farmers and supporters by observing fast across the country today by giving up lunch today.

The AIKSCC also said that they will intensify the movement to boycott the products of Ambanis and Adanis in days to come.

The farmers at the protesting site have also reiterated that until the government withdraws these acts, they would not leave the Singhu Border.

"The farmers have been dropping in batches and if 10 farmers go back to their home, 11 come up to replace them. We have to take care of our agriculture business too and home as well," a farmer Ranjit Singh from Firozpur in Punjab told UNI.

People are joining us at all the tall demonstration sites at Delhi borders and now the row of tractor trolleys have piled up to 20 kilometres from the Singhu Border, he added.