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Are Farm Unions Serious In Finding A Resolution?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-30 05:51:17

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

When the farmers first sent the four point agenda to the government for the resumption of talks on the new farm laws, one was surprised to see that they had put the repeal of the laws as the first point. On the other three points they had three other contentious issues that they wanted resolved. But how is that possible? If you have repeal of the laws on the agenda, is there any point discussing the contentious clauses?

Anyway, that agenda was accepted by the government and it invited the unions for talks on Wednesday, the 30th of December. Even as hopes were raised that maybe this time, despite the repeal of the laws on the agenda, some kind of broad agreement would be worked out between the two sides and the agitation will end.

But on Tuesday, the 29th of December, the farm unions put a spanner in the works. They changed the agenda by changing their terms for discussion on the Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Previously, they had wanted the government to amend or remove the clauses they had found offensive in the said Act. But on Tuesday, the unions shot off a letter to the government demanding a repeal of the Act.

This is something which is not acceptable. There are more than 40 farm unions that are involved and they are being advised by top activists and lawyers. The government had asked them to set up the agenda and return to the negotiating table after the talks had broken down. The unions had done so after deliberating on the matter for many days. Hence, the last moment change seems to be a tactic to throw the talks off track.

The unions must understand that a prolonged agitation is in no one's interest. They must make up their minds about what they want from the government and stick to it. Changing their minds every other day will not resolve the issue and the nation will continue to suffer. When the government is willing to address their problems, the unions must also understand that reforms are necessary and should cooperate fully. 

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