Noted social activist P V Rajagopal on Wednesday offered to mediate between the agitating farmers and the government on the issue of three new farm laws, and said he would embark on a foot-march from Morena to Delhi on Thursday in support of the cultivators. Thousands of farmers have been camping at several Delhi border points for 21 days on the trot to press for repeal of the Centre's new farm laws.
Talking to reporters in Gwalior, Rajagopal, who is the head of the Ekta Parishad, said, "Although nobody has asked me to mediate on the issue, I am moved by the fact that farmers have been agitating since the last 20 days in the chilling cold, and there is a need to start a dialogue on the matter." He said he would embark on a foot-march with nearly one thousand farmers from Morena, the Lok Sabha constituency of the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. "As no dialogue is happening, I am sure that both- the farmers and the government- will accept my offer of initiating talks," he said.
The government should listen to the farmers, he said, while expressing hope that he would be able to help in the process. "Maybe the farmers as well as the government will not listen to me, but farmers have their problems and a dialogue must be established with them," he added.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, the protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
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