DM Monitoring
New Delhi: While the sixth round of talks between the Centre and farmers are underway, thousands of farmers agitating against the three new farm laws stayed put at their agitation venues near Delhi, which is going through a harsh spell of winter. The previous five rounds of talks, some of which were held in the first week of December, have failed to resolve the impasse, as the Centre refused to repeal the laws. It has instead suggested amendments. However, farmers want a rollback of the laws.
According to an Indian Express report, Union minister Som Prakash, who has been part of the government’s three-member team for negotiations with the farmers, said, “Today’s meeting with farmers will be decisive”. “We want them to celebrate New Year at their homes, with their family and we are going into the meeting with an open heart and mind. The government will try to resolve the issue so that people can go back to their homes.”
On Wednesday, a cold wave swept Delhi as the minimum temperature dipped to 3.5°C. It is likely to get even colder on New Year’s Eve, the India Meteorological Department predicted, as dry and icy winds barrelled through the plains.
According to the news reports, Patna Police on Tuesday lathi-charged a group of protesters who were trying to march to the Bihar governor’s residence to express their support for the farmers protesting at various borders of Delhi. On the same day, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi announced that it would provide free WiFi to the protesters at Singhu border.
The farmers have been protesting against the new agricultural laws at different borders in Delhi since November 26.Security remained tight at the Delhi borders on Wednesday with hundreds of personnel deployed at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri border points where the farmers have been camping.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middleman and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country
However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the mandi system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates. The government has repeatedly asserted that the MSP and mandi systems will stay and has accused the Opposition of misleading the farmers.
Earlier, several people were injured here on Tuesday in a lathi charge at a busy crossing in the heart of the city when police personnel tried to stop a procession taken out in protest against the farm laws from heading towards the Raj Bhavan.
According to police, the crackdown at Dak Bungalow crossing was preceded by skirmishes between the demonstrators and police and administrative officials at the Gandhi Maidan, the starting point of the rally, where agitators took exception to their entry being allowed inside the sprawling public ground only through one of the many gates. Police sources said the restriction was put in place to avoid a stampede-like situation.
