Asserting that the ongoing farmers' protest is in favour of neither the country nor Punjab, Som Prakash, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, on Wednesday said they should end the agitation and accept the Centre's proposal "if most of their demands are met".
"The ongoing farmers' protest is in favour of neither the country nor Punjab. On Tuesday, the Centre listened to their demands in detail, based on which a proposal with all possible amendments will be sent to the farmers for deliberation. Yesterday, Union minister Amit Shah, along with others, met a delegation of farmers for the sixth time. After that, they will tell us their future course of action. We have already done five rounds of meetings with the farmers," said Prakash.
"If most of their demands are considered by the Centre then they should conclude the agitation," he added.
Earlier today, Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, said that the farmer unions will hold a meeting over the draft that will be sent by the Centre, and hoped that the farmers' future course of action will be clear by 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm today.
"We'll hold a meeting over the draft that will be sent by the Centre. The sixth round of talks with the government, which was scheduled for today, remains cancelled. The Union government wants to send us a draft of their proposal and wants us to look at it. We will decide our further course of action after looking at the draft and discussing it among ourselves. We hope things will be clear by 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm today," said Tikait at Gzaipur border.
On Tuesday, leaders of farmer unions held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at Shah's residence, over their demands regarding the three agricultural laws that were passed earlier in September.
The farmers are protesting against The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
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