The Central government today said it has invited farmer unions from Punjab for the second round of ministerial discussion on December 3 to resolve differences over the new agriculture laws.  Earlier,  farmer leaders laid a condition for another central ministerial meeting while calling off their 'rail roko' agitation in Punjab on Monday and lifted the nearly two-month-long blockade, allowing resumption of only goods trains.

Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey said, "We have called the representatives of over 30 farmer organizations for the second round of discussion on December 3 at Vigyan Bhawan at 11 am". The secretary has sent the invitation to the farmer bodies on behalf of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Food Minister Piyush Goyal is also expected to be present in the meeting. Also, Officials from the food and agriculture departments of the Punjab government have been invited for the talks. The first round of talks was held on November 13, but it remained inconclusive, with both sides sticking to their ground.

Punjab farmers have been demanding the repeal of the new farm laws and replace them with another set of laws framed after wider consultation with stakeholders. They also demanded a guarantee on the Minimum support price front, as they claimed that these new laws may lead to the end of minimum support prices (MSP) procurement, which the Centre has denied.

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