Farmers-Centre meet underway: Will be decisive, says Minister

New Delhi, Dec 30: The sixth round of talks between the government and the farmers demanding repeal of the Centre's new farm laws has commenced. The government is hoping for a breakthrough to resolve the protests that have been raging at the borders of Delhi since November-end.

But with both sides taking a hard line, the farmers are not sure of a resolution anytime soon.
Union minister Som Prakash -- who has been part of the government's three-member team for negotiations with the farmers -- said, "Today's meeting with farmers will be decisive".

However, a day before the meeting, they fired a warning shot late Tuesday night, saying that they would only discuss certain issues, including modalities of repealing all three laws and providing legal guarantees for MSP.

The nationwide protest by tens of thousands of irate farmers has rumbled on for over a month now, with their core demand - the scrapping of the laws and legal support for MSP - unchanged.