Centre open for negotiations, says Narendra Singh Tomar

Centre open for negotiations, says Narendra Singh Tomar

A

s the farmers' protests enter 29th day, the possibilities of halting outrage and stepping back are quite minimal. The unison and angst of farmers in this chilling December has turned into an issue of anxiety for the government amid these unsafe times of Covid. The perseverance of farmers has attracted the attention of the government on their demands to thrash the new farm laws and the government invited them to the negotiations table. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold open minded discussions with farmers on Friday and declared to release funds worth Rs 18000 crores among almost 9 crore farmer families under the emphasis laid by Pradhan Mantri Kisan Yojana. The Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar sought for the reactions and opinions of farmers on this forwarded package and their wishes to add or subtract from the proposal.

In an interview, Tomar said, "I strongly believe that our farmer unions will deliberate among themselves about the proposal and will raise their thoughts about the same to bring their issues under our consideration. They can give their inputs to add or subtract from the government's proposal. We can hold open hearted discussions on date and time convenient to them. The government is all ears to hear their grievances. We are expecting a prompt response and moving towards a fruitful solution."

Tomar highlighted that the government is making efforts to improvise and transform the agriculture sector in the last six years to help farmers get the best price for their hard work. Centre can formulate other reforms for upliftment of this sector. This will come into effect in coming days and for the enactment of such laws we need to hear approvals or skepticism of farmers. He didn't lay out any specifics about the aforementioned laws. Meanwhile, an official statement is released from PMO on Wednesday regarding Prime Minister's take on releasing next instalment of financial benefits to farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) through online conference on 25 December.

The Prime Minister will hold the meeting with farmers from six different states during the state. The aspirations and hopes of farmers will be discussed in the conference. The Union Agriculture Minister will also be present on the occasion.