Chandigarh

The third round of meeting by the Central government with protesting farmers, mainly from Punjab, was held on Wednesday here with Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan reiterating the government's commitment to the welfare of farmers.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 4.

Chouhan told the media that talks were held in a constructive manner and they will go on. The farmer leaders reiterated their long-pending demands, including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The government and the farmers had a constructive and cordial discussion lasting more than three hours, during which various legal, economic and other dimensions of the farmers' demands were explored and highlighted, a statement said.

Chouhan was joined by his Cabinet colleagues Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal, while Punjab was represented by Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian. Farmer leaders, including Jagjit Singh Dallewal, were present.

Based on discussions, the government has decided to conduct stakeholder consultations with farmer organisations across the country, as well as with governments of states and union territories, and other stakeholders including traders, exporters and the food processing industry.

It has been decided to continue the talks in the positive spirit, after the stakeholder consultations.

The Union Ministers assured the farmers that the government would continue to pay a patient ear to the concerns of farmers and other stakeholders and that it would act in the interest of farmers.

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“The interest of farmers is paramount,” the ministers assured the farmers. They appealed to the farmer community to adopt the path of dialogue and talks rather than of protest, noting that solutions will emerge only from dialogue and discussion.

Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said: “The meeting was held in a positive atmosphere. The data provided by the farmer unions regarding the implementation of MSP on all crops will be examined by the Centre,” “There are no plans to remove protesting farmers from the Khanauri and Shambhu borders,” he added.