PM Modi chairs high level meet at Parliament; Amit Shah, Narendra Tomar present

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for a high-level meeting in Parliament and Home Minister Amit Shah, Commerce and Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar are also said to be present at the meeting. It is said that the meeting comes in view of the ruckus in Parliament since the Parliamentary session began on January 29.

The opposition on Friday resorted to slogans against the government at a high pitch, disturbing the proceedings of the Parliament sessions. Slogans of "Dadagiri Nahi Chalegi" among others were chanted by the opposition at the Lok Sabha during the question hour with little scope for discussions to continue, while speaker Om Birla persistently requesting the opposition MPs to cooperate.

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Agriculture Minister takes on opposition

While addressing Rajya Sabha earlier in the day, the agriculture minister listed out the efforts of the PM Narendra Modi-led government to double the income of farmers and emphasized on the benefits of the three farm laws recently introduced. Speaking on the oppositions' support to the ongoing protests against the laws, he said, "farmer unions and opposition parties have failed to point out a single flaw in three new farm laws."

"We are not standing on our ego, we have been asking what is black in this law and no one is forthcoming... Farmers are being misled that others would occupy their land if these laws are implemented. Let me know if there is a single provision in Contract Farming law which allows any trader to snatch away the land of any farmer," said Narendra Tomar while speaking in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

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The deadlock continues

The deadlock between the farmers' unions and the Centre continues as the former has rejected the proposal of government for staying the farm laws for 1.5 years while remaining adamant on the demand of complete repeal of the laws. Prior to this, the proposal by the government to hold a clause-wise discussion of the farm laws in order to strike a breakthrough in the protests was also rejected by the agitating farmers' unions led by Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). The government has also agreed to the demand of Unions to keep farmers out of the ambit of the penalty for stubble burning and has also conceded to the demand of not going ahead with the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020. The SKM has also refused to participate in the deliberations by the Supreme Court constituted committee led by experts on agriculture and food policies.

Meanwhile, the committee held discussions with 32 farmers unions from nine states on February 3 & 4 to resolve the standoff over the farm laws. Earlier in the day, the committee held detailed discussions with top officials of State Marketing Boards, Private Mandi Operators and Food Parks of Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The committee has been directed to solicit the views of the farm unions and the Centre. Moreover, this panel will submit its recommendations pertaining to the farm laws to the SC within two months from the date of its first sitting. The committee has been directed to solicit the views of the farm unions and the Centre. Moreover, this panel will submit its recommendations pertaining to the farm laws to the SC within two months from the date of its first sitting.

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