Minister said won't repeal agriculture laws: Farmers after seventh-round of talks

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar "clearly said that the laws will not be repealed, he even told us to approach the Supreme Court for repeal of the laws," Sarwan Singh Pandher of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, who attended the meet, told mediapersons.

Both sides have agreed to meet again on Jan 8.

The protesting farmers have even threatened to hold a rally on Republic Day, if their demands are not met by then.

According to reports, the government had proposed to discuss the farmers' demand for a legal guarantee for support price of crops but the farmers' union leaders insisted on discussing the repeal of farm laws during the meet.

The two sides took a long break after an hour of discussions, during which the farmers had langar (community kitchen) food brought in from outside by a van, and refused to have lunch offered by the government.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar said the laws will be discussed with representatives of farmers' organisations from other states as well and that the government is ready for amendments to the laws.

Thousands of farmers are camped in Delhi-Haryana border since the end of November with the sole demand of the repeal of the laws enacted by the central government through an Ordinance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the last round of meeting, held on Dec 30, consensus could be reached on two issues out of the four, Narendra Singh Tomar shad informed.

While the government is firm on implementing the contentious farm laws, it had offered to withdraw the Electricity Amendment Bill and the penal provisions for stubble burning in the Air Quality Commission Ordinance, which were among the other demands of the protesting farmers.