Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur said the Modi government was ready to talk to the protesting farmers. Taking a swipe at the Congress party, Thakur also pointed out that the farm protest had become a tool for a section of people to advance their political interests.
Thakur said the Modi government was committed to agricultural issues from the beginning. “Farmer-friendly policies have been introduced in the last decade, benefitting millions of local farmers,” Thakur said.
“The government is always ready to talk. Whenever there is a need, the government itself takes the initiative. This time too, our ministers went to Chandigarh for talks and deliberated until late into the night. Two rounds of discussions took place. The government is in favor.” “We are still ready to talk to farmers,” Thakur said.
Thakur said farmers need to understand that suddenly introducing new issues into the protests will not help provide an immediate solution. “Issues such as the WTO, the abolition of free trade agreements and farm pollution cannot be resolved in a matter of days. This required extensive discussions with other stakeholders. The government has offered to form a committee to look into these issues,” Thakur said.
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