Govt proposal to suspend farm laws still stands, says PM Modi

Farmers and their supporters during their ongoing agitation against the farm reform laws, at the Ghazipur border in New Delhi. PIC/PTI

During the all-party meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, ahead of the Budget session of Parliament, the Prime Minister said that the government still stands by the proposal given to the protesting farmers of suspending the three contentious farm laws for 18 months.

The Prime Minister assured that the government is approaching the farmers' issue with an open mind. He said, "The government's stand is the same as it was during the meeting on January 22 the proposal made by the Union Agriculture Minister still stands." Meanwhile, support for the farmers' protest swelled on Saturday, as more villagers poured in at a key protest site on the Delhi-Meerut highway in Ghazipur on the border with Uttar Pradesh.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union-led protest against the Centre's new farm laws here looked like it was going slim on Thursday but more protestors have joined the stir, following a mahapanchayat of farmers on Saturday in Muzaffarnagar, while supporters also joined in from Haryana and Rajasthan districts. "The movement was and is strong," BKU's Meerut Zone president Pawan Khatana told PTI.

Khatana, who is at the demonstration site with BKU leader Rakesh Tikait, said there has been continuous support for the "peaceful protest" against the farmers' demand for removal of the new agri laws. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has temporarily suspended internet services at the Singhu, Ghazipur, and Tikri borders, where farmers have been protesting against the new agri laws, an official said on Saturday. Apart from the three borders of Delhi, internet services will remain suspended in their adjoining areas too effective from 11 pm of January 29 to 11 pm of January 31, the official said.