New Delhi, December 8: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday called for a meeting with farmers' union leaders in a bid to end the impasse over the recently enacted farm reform laws. The special round of talks was called by Shah on a day when the farmers called a Bharat Bandh, as they escalated their protest seeking the revocation of the three farm legislations.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), one of the leading agrarian bodies involved in the protests, issued a confirmation that they have received a call for a meeting with the Home Minister. The talks will be held later today. Farmers' Protest: 32-Year-Old Farmer From Sonipat Found Dead at Tikri Border Allegedly Due to Cold Weather.

"We have a meeting with the Home Minister at 7 pm today. We are going to Singhu Border now and from there we will go to the Home Minister," Rakesh Tikait, spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, was reported as saying.

Update by ANI

The meeting with Shah comes in the backdrop of five round of deliberations held between a panel led by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and the farmer leaders. The talks, despite being held for several hours, remained inconclusive so far.

The farmer unions are adamant on seeking the complete rollback of the three Farm Bills, that were passed by the Parliament in September-end. The laws provide framework to contractual farming, allow farmers to bypass mandis to sell their produce and removes undue limits on stocking of food products unless a calamity is declared.

While the government has cited the laws as an important step towards increasing farmers' income, the protesters have alleged a ploy to dismantle the APMCs and dilute the system of MSP (minimum support prices)-based procurement.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 08, 2020 03:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).