Govt-farm leaders to meet today, unions adamant on R-Day rally | Key points

The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha on Thursday rejected the government’s proposal to suspend the three farm laws for 18 months.

Protests against the three contentious farm laws entered Day 58 on Friday. Thousands of farmers, who have been agitating on the outskirts of Delhi since November 26, have refused to budge until all the three laws are repealed. The protesters are also gearing up for a tractor march, which was announced earlier this month against the laws, on Republic Day.

Here’s a look at some key points as protests against the farm laws enter day 58:

1. The 11th round of talks between the government and farmers' leaders will take place on Friday. Discussions are stuck at two demands by the farmers: a legal assurance on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and complete rollback of the laws. The government has repeatedly said it won’t repeal the laws.

2. On Thursday, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farmers' unions who are leading the protests, rejected the government’s proposal to suspend the laws for up to 18 months. The government had given this proposal in the 10th round of talks on January 20.

3. After SKM rejected the government’s proposal, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar met home minister Amit Shah late on Thursday night. Tomar, railways minister Piyush Goyal and minister of state (MoS) for commerce Som Parkash have been representing the government in the talks with the farmers' leaders.

4. On Thursday, farmers' leaders met officials of the Delhi Police for a second straight day over the proposed tractor rally on Republic Day. However, just like Wednesday, the meeting was inconclusive. Another round of talks is likely to take place between the two sides.

5. The farmers are adamant to hold the rally on Delhi’s Outer Ring Road, albeit “peacefully.” However, the police, apprehensive over a possible law and order situation, have asked them to hold their rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, where a “trailer” tractor march was held on January 7.

6. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court directed the Centre to withdraw its plea filed through Delhi Police seeking an injunction on the tractor parade, calling it a “police matter.” In its plea, the police argued that the parade would “malign the nation’s image.”

7. The committee constituted by the top court to oversee negotiations between the Centre and farmers on Thursday held a virtual interaction with farmers' unions from 10 states. The panel currently comprises Ashok Gulati, PK Joshi and Anil Ghanwat.

8. A fourth member of the panel, Bhupinder Singh Mann, had recused himself from the committee. A controversy had erupted over the names of the members of the panel as farmers' leaders said that all of them had backed the three farm laws.