Will have to take firm steps if talks with govt on January 4 fail: Farmer unions

Addressing a press conference at the Singhu border protest site, farmer leaders warned of multiple actions if their main demands are not met

Resolute in their demands for the repeal of three new farm laws and a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops, protesting farmer unions on Friday said that they would have to take firm steps if the government does not make a decision in their favour in the next meeting scheduled for January 4.

On the 37^th day of the agitation against the farm laws, the farmers’ unions had invited one-and-all to celebrate the new year with farmers, an appeal that saw film stars and celebrities from Punjab joining the protests at the Singhu Border, the epicentre of the protests.

Farmers ushered in the new year snuggled in tents and celebrations in the open as the mercury plunged to 1.1 degrees celsius in the national capital.

For latest updates on farmers' protest, click here

Leaders of the 40 farmers’ organisations held deliberations amongst themselves and consulted lawyers on the government’s proposal to set up a committee of experts to address concerns over the minimum support price and accommodate their demands through amendments and not by repealing the three farm laws.

“It seems that the government is taking farmers lightly. The government was able to disperse Shaheen Bagh protestors, they were thinking to do the same with us but such a day will never come. If the government does not make a decision on January 4 then farmers will have to make a decision,” Yudhvir Singh, a leader of the Bhartiya Kisan Union told reporters at the Singhu border.

The farmers’ unions have held six rounds of formal talks with the Modi government and informal deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah on their demands to repeal the farm sector laws.

At the sixth round of talks with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the government and the farmers had agreed on the issues of decriminalising stubble burning and amendments to the Electricity Act, while the main demands on MSP and repeal of the three laws still remain unresolved.