Protesting farmers' agree to government proposal for talks on December 30

Protesting farmer unions Monday agreed inprinciple to a government proposal of holding the next round of talks on the new agricultural laws on December 30 but said the Centre should have spelt out the agenda of the meeting in its inviteAbhimanyu Kohar a member of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha an umbrella body of 40 unions protesting against the contentious legislations said the farmers have agreed to go for the meeting on the date proposed by the CentreThe farmers acceptance of the proposal came hours after the Centre sent them a letter suggesting December 30 as the date for the dialogue against December 29 the protesting unions wantedIn our letter sent to the government on December 26 we had clearly mentioned that repeal of three farm laws and legal guarantee for MSP should be part of the agenda for fresh talks but despite this the government in letter today has not mentioned any specific agenda Kohar told PTIBut we have agreed inprinciple to hold talks with the government he saidThe governments latest invite followed a proposal made by unions last week to hold the talks on Tuesday December 29 on agenda including modalities for the repeal of the three laws enacted in SeptemberKohar said the government proposing to hold the talks on December 30 instead of agreeing to farmersrsquo suggestion of December 29 shows the Centre wants to assert its controlMeanwhile the Singhu border where thousands of farmers have been camping in protest against the new laws since November 28 visibly swelled up on Monday as new protestors joined in over the weekendNavigating the highwayturnedtownship became challenging with the pathways being cramped as tractors and trolleys of new protestors occupied more and more space at the protest siteHaving already completed one month the farmers said they were prepared for a long haul and that essentials such as food and clothing are coming in in sufficient quantities to sustain their agitationApprehensive that the new laws will lead to the elimination of the MSP regime and the mandi system the farmers have been demanding the three legislations be repealedThe government on the other hand has been projecting the laws as major reforms in the agriculture sector Several farmers who had gone to their villages after spending a few days at the protest sites have returned with their familiesAmrinder Singh from Patiala had gone back home on December 4 and returned on Saturday with his wife and sister More people are coming in and to keep our fight going each house in every village in Punjab is giving Rs 1000More people will be coming from Fatehgarh Sahib on January 2 after a religious event there gets over he saidKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever