Ready to resume farmer talks if they have new proposals: Piyush Goyal

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday said the Union government was ready to resume talks with the farmers' unions if they (farmers) came out with some new proposals.

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Goyal, who is part of the government team of negotiators with farmer unions along with others, said the Modi government is sensitive towards the farmers' concerns and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the whole government was ready to resolve the issue through dialogue.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the government is a phone call away but someone has to call to talk or move ahead. If farmers have any objection to the laws then let us know and the government is willing to address it," he said.

Goyal pointed out that farmers are misled on some issues and few people succeeded in misleading them in certain areas by creating doubts.

"Farmers have been confused and the government has proposed to clear the confusion. We have given 'proposal after proposal' to address farmers' concerns. But when I heard in media reports, 'tarikh pe tarikh' which is actually wrong, instead it must be said that the union government has given 'proposal after proposal'," he said.

Condemning the violent clash at the Red Fort on January 26, Goyal said that despite the unfortunate incident we believe that it must be resolved by dialogue and the government has offered to suspend the laws for 18 months but we have not received any concrete proposal from farmers till date.

"The government brings Bills to benefit people. These new farm laws have been introduced to increase the income of crores of farmers, especially small farmers of the country, and it has been welcomed by the farmers across the country. The laws that have been brought for the benefit of the farmers of the country, they should not be deprived of its benefits," said the minister.

The Centre has so far held 11 rounds of talks with the representatives of the farmer unions from December last year to January this year.

--IANS

sbh/dpb