Protests against farm laws: Farmers threaten to block roads to Delhi from five points

The farmers have threatened to block roads from Sonipat, Rohtak, Jaipur, Ghaziabad-Hapur and Mathura.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier said the government will hold early talks with the farmers if the protests are shifted to a designated venue.

Rejecting such a proposal, the farmers said they will accept no condition from the government to hold talks.

The government has set Dec 3 as the date for the talks with the farmers, who are crystal clear over their demands for a repeal of the laws.

The farmers, who were heading from Punjab and Haryana, last week had braved water cannons and tear gas to reach the national capital.

The Centre's new farm laws will now allow farmers to sell their produce to institutional buyers beyond the regulated wholesale market.

However, farmers and opposition leaders criticised the Centre's move stating small peasants will have little bargaining power while selling their produce to institutional buyers, running the risk of getting exploited.

Despite the massive protests, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his radio address to the nation on Sunday said the Centre's new farm laws have opened doors of opportunity for the Indian farmers.

"The demands that farmers made over the years, which every government had only promised to meet so far, have finally been met," Modi said in programme Mann Ki Baat.