Dilli Chalo | Government renews offer for dialogue with farmers

A day after the farmer unions rejected its offer of talks, the Union government on Thursday again wrote to them extending an invitation for talks and reiterated its commitment to a logical solution to all the issues raised by the agitating farmer groups.

In a three-page letter to the unions, Agriculture Ministry Joint Secretary Vivek Aggarwal said the government had always been discussing the issues with open mind and honest intentions to put an end to the agitation and sought a convenient date and time for further discussion on the matter. It also sought details of the issues to be discussed.

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The letter was written in the context of the farmer unions’ joint front Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s reply on Wednesday.

However, the letter said the three laws on agricultural reforms were not related to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and would not impact it in any manner; therefore, putting forth any new demand on this front was not justified. Still, the government was ready to discuss all the issues raised by the unions, said the letter.

The unions, had it their reply, objected to the written proposal earlier, saying it did not mention amendments to the Essential Commodities Act. The letter, however, clarified that the written proposal was based on the issues identified during the December 3 meeting.

It further said the government was ready for talks on any issues, including other than those identified in the December 3 meeting, in connection with the Electricity Amendment Act and the provisions on stubble burning.

‘Govt must act’

Later in the evening, All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee general secretary Avik Shah, in his Facebook address, said the government should start engaging farmers on an agenda that addressed their real issues. 

“The government must stop speaking only to itself, it must speak to the protesting farmers. It must speak about the issues that the protesting farmers have brought to the fore. The government must understand the nature and extent of the agitation. It government must act. Time for rhetoric is gone. Time for being smart and cunning is gone. Time for using words to solve problems is gone. There is a real problem, we need real solutions for this,” he stated.

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Farmers too wanted peace, but the government must send a letter outlining the terms and conditions under which the three laws could be repealed for a good discussion. “If you publicly articulate that there is no question of repeal, these acts are good and you write letters that you wish to engage then this will not work,” he added.