Farmers unanimously reject Centre’s proposal, protest to continue

New Delhi, Dec 9 : Protesting farmers on Wednesday unanimously rejected the proposed amendments suggested by the Central government to three controversial farm laws and have sought complete rollback of the laws.
This came after the government agreed to farmers’ demands by giving its nod on key issues raised by them, including amendments to the three contentious farms laws that were the first and biggest issue driving the ongoing farmers’ protest.
The government communicated its stand through a written draft proposal to the farmers in which it agreed to two main amendments regarding the minimum support price (MSP) and the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), but rejected their demand to repeal the three farm laws.
“We have rejected the proposal given by the Central government. There was no opposition from anyone. Our future course of action is that we will close all the borders in 1-2 days,” said Kulwant Singh Sandhu, one of the farmer leaders.
In the proposal, the Centre agreed to a written minimum support price (MSP) assurance and uniform tax for private market yard and APMC — a marketing board established by state governments to ensure that farmers are safeguarded from exploitation by large retailers, as well as ensuring that farm to retail price does not touch excessively high levels.
According to the proposal, there would be a provision for registration for private traders dealing in trade. On the issue of scrapping the farm laws, the government said it is ready to consider the provisions of the laws on which the farmers have raised objections.