The third round of talks between Union ministers and farmers demanding higher prices for their crops got underway on Thursday evening after two days of protests. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, agriculture minister Arjun Munda and minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai participated in the meeting with the representatives of 17 farm bodies.
Earlier talks failed to secure a government commitment to provide minimum support prices, which spurred the farmers to go ahead with their “Delhi Chalo” march.
The unsuccessful attempt by farmers to march towards Delhi entered its third day as they were stopped at the border of Punjab and Haryana states. They waited for the outcome of the talks, warming themselves with cups of hot tea and snacking on biscuits, as police looked on from a nearby bridge, reported Reuters.
A group of 100 farmers have volunteered to keep the peace while the talks were underway, reported Reuters quoting one of the farmers.
“We are not planning to take any action until the talks with the government are over,” said Kamaljeet Singh, who was preventing protesters from moving closer to the police.
Earlier today at farmers’ mahapanchayat at Sisai village in the Hisar district of Haryana, the cultivators extended their support to agitating farmers and announced to take out their tractors and move towards the Khanauri border on February 18.
An emergency meeting of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Charuni) took place in Kurukshetra where union president Gurnam Singh Charuni declared the toll plazas in Haryana, certain parts of Punjab, and Western Uttar Pradesh would be made toll-free on the following day, from 12 noon to 3 pm.
The union announced plans for a tractor march in every tehsil to express solidarity with fellow farmers protesting at the Haryana-Punjab borders.
Charuni will also chair a meeting of all farmers’ unions, worker unions and other bodies of the state in Kurukshetra on Sunday to decide on the future course of action.
“I’m not going to join the protesting farmers in Punjab, but we will decide on February 18, how the protests can be taken forward in Haryana,” he said.
The Haryana government, meanwhile, extended the suspension of mobile internet services in seven districts till February 17 in view of the ‘Delhi Chalo’ call given by farmers’ organisations. This is the third time that mobile internet services have been suspended in the districts along the Punjab border. The mobile internet services were first suspended on February 11 morning till February 13 and were later extended for another 48 hours.
A home department order said the seven districts where mobile internet services will remain shut for another 48 hours are Ambala, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa.
(With inputs from agencies)
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