Talks between farmer leaders, Centre remain inconclusive

Chandigarh: A fresh round of meeting between farmer leaders and a central delegation to discuss the formers' various demands remained inconclusive on Wednesday, even as the Union ministers attending the talks called the farmers' interests paramount. During the meeting that lasted for more than three hours, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the talks would continue and the next meeting will be held on May 4. "The meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere. The discussions took place in a positive and constructive manner. The talks will continue. The next meeting will take place on May 4," Chouhan said after the meeting. However, he did not take any questions from the media. The discussions revolved around the main demand for a law guaranteeing minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

The farmer leaders insisted that there would be no problem in implementing a law guaranteeing MSP (for crops). They also raised the issue of some media reports suggesting that the US government was pressuring the government of India to remove import duty on agricultural products. Besides Chouhan, Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal were also present at the meeting held at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 here.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Food and Civil Supplies minister Lal Chand Kataruchak were also part of the meeting. It was the seventh round of talks between the two sides since February last year.

Addressing the farmers, Chouhan reiterated the government's commitment to their welfare and recalled how it continued to make regular policy interventions to address the issues being faced by farmers across the country. An official release said that various legal, economic and other dimensions of the farmers' demands were explored and highlighted during the meeting. Based on the discussions, the government has decided to hold stakeholder consultations with farmer organisations across the country, as well as with the states and Union Territories, traders, exporters and the food processing industry, the statement said.