Centre appeals to farmers to shift to Burari ground
Says high level team of Union Ministers to hold talks with them
New Delhi: The Centre has once again appealed to the farmers who are agitating against the new agri laws to shift to a ground in Delhi’s Burari and said a high-level team of Union Ministers is ready to hold talks with them at the capital’s Vigyan Bhavan once they move to the designated place.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla stated this in a letter to 32 farmers organisations sent on Saturday, the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah too had promised dialogue with them as soon as they shift to the ground.
In his letter in Hindi, Bhalla cited the cold conditions and the COVID-19 outbreak and said the farmers should move to the Burarai ground where adequate facilities have been made for them.
He said that the farmers’ organisations have called for the ‘Delhi chalo’ programme on November 26 and 27 following which a large number of farmers from Punjab and other parts of the country have reached the borders of Delhi.
He said the farmers have gathered along two major highways connecting Punjab and as a result, normal life and travel of common people have been affected.
Bhalla said the farmers are also inconvenienced due to the cold, and because of the Coronavirus outbreak, there is a possibility of the spread of the virus as there is a large congregation of people.
The home secretary said keeping in mind all these issues, the central government has made arrangements for a big ground at Burari so that proper facilities could be made for the farmers.
“I request you to take all the farmers from the borders of Delhi to the ground at Burari where facilities have been created for them and they can hold their demonstration peacefully and police will permit it,” he said
Bhalla said a delegation of the farmers has been invited on December 3 by the central government for detailed discussions on their problems.
“Some farmers and farmers unions have demanded that the meeting should take place earlier than December 3.
“As soon as you shift to the ground at Burari, the very next day a high-level committee of union ministers will hold talks at Vigyan Bhavan with the representatives of all farmers unions, with whom dialogue had taken place earlier,” he said in the letter.
Bhalla also said detailed discussions were held in New Delhi on November 13 regarding farmers’ problems, which was attended by Union Ministers for Agriculture and Railways.
On Saturday, Shah had also appealed to the farmers to shift to the ground at Burari and said the central government is ready to hold discussions with them as soon as they go to the permitted place.
Farmers agitating against the Centre’s new agri laws on Sunday said they are ready for talks with the government but will not accept any conditions, including moving to the city’s Burari ground from the Singhu and Tikri border points, where they have stayed put for the last three days.
