Farmer unions to meet again today, indicate resumption of dialogue

New Delhi: The protesting farmer unions met on Friday to discuss the government's latest letter inviting them for talks, with some of them indicating that they may decide to resume their dialogue with the Centre to find a solution to the ongoing deadlock over the three contentious agri laws.

The unions said they will hold another meeting on Saturday where a formal decision on the Centre's invite for the resumption of stalled talks is likely to be taken.

An official in the Union ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare also said the government was expecting the next round of meetings to take place in the next two-three days. Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday urged Punjab farmers to end their protest and come forward to hold discussions with the government to resolve the deadlock over the three new farm laws.

Tomar, who is leading the talks with 40 farmers unions, hoped that farmers would understand the importance of these three legislations and would hold discussion with the government to reach a solution to break this stalemate.

Stating that there is some misconception in the minds of Punjab farmers, the Agriculture minister said: "I want to urge them to leave the protest and come forward for the dialogue. I am hopeful that farmers will understand the importance of new laws and reach a solution."

Meanwhile, one of the protesting union leaders, who did not wish to be named, said their demand for a legal guarantee on minimum support price will, however, remain the same.

"We have another meeting tomorrow to take a decision on the Centre's letter. In this meeting, we may decide to resume talks with the government as it appears through its previous letters that it has not been able to understand our issues so far," the leader said.

He said the government's letters have no proposals, the reason why farmer unions may decide to hold fresh talks and make it understand their demands.

On Friday, several farmer unions held a meeting, but no decision could be taken on the Centre's latest letter.