July 17, 2026

Farm Dispute: Breaking The Ice

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-31 03:41:34

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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

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There were four issues on the agenda the farm unions had submitted to the government. The government claims that two of them - excluding farmers from the penal provisions of new ordinance on air quality management in NCR and nearby areas and scrapping of Electricity Amendment Bill, 2020 have been settled with a broad agreement with the unions. Another round of talks has been fixed for January 4. The government has, in the meantime, asked the farmers to scale down the agitation by sending the women and the children back home considering the severity of the weather.

While it is good to go after low hanging fruits to settle a dispute, in this case one thinks that the two major points - repealing the three new laws and providing a legal guarantee for the continuance of MSP - will take some time in resolving because both parties are not willing to concede any ground on the same. While the government has made it clear that there is no question about repealing the laws, the unions have put it as the first point in the agenda. Further, while the government is willing to give in writing that the MSP will continue, the unions want it to be codified.

Still, one can say that the last round of talks were held in a much better way and achieved what the earlier rounds failed to do. Earlier, the unions always said that the government was inflexible and not willing to consider their demands. But this time, they said they have achieved "half victory" and that the government was on the back foot. While they have not suspended the agitation, they have deferred the proposed tractor march from Singhu to Tikri and Shahjahanpur that was to be held today. This is a good sign. 

While the unions are upbeat and think that they will be able to pressurize the government into accepting the two remaining demands on January 4, one thinks that it will not be that easy. This is now becoming a game of give and take and one thinks that since the farmers have now claimed "half victory", they will have to settle for a quasi-legal guarantee on MSP and some amendments to the new farm laws. That would be a just settlement that will protect their interests and usher in much needed reforms in the sector.