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Farm Dispute: The Government Must Seriously Pursue Back Channel Efforts Before Formal Talks

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-01-04 14:26:46

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

The seventh round of talks between the Centre and the farm unions ended in a stalemate when the unions kept on insisting on the repeal of the laws ignoring the repeated pleas by the government to discuss the legal guarantee they want for MSP or to have discussion on the particular clauses in the bills which they think are prejudicial to their interests. But the unions seem to have a one point agenda - to get the bills repealed.

Although the next round of talks have been fixed for January 8, one thinks that nothing will come out of it if the unions do not change their stance. One thinks that instead of engaging the unions in talks so frequently, the government should first get back channel talks going in real earnest. Let the representatives of both sides thrash out the issues informally. Formal talks should be fixed only after there is a broad agreement over contentious issues. Otherwise, there is no point in the two sides meeting only to disagree.

The government has claimed that despite the unions sticking to their demand of repealing the laws, the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere. But other reports suggest that ministers are reported to have told the representatives of some unions that the laws will not be repealed and the unions can approach the Supreme Court if they wish. It is also becoming clear that the government outreach and PR exercises have all failed to bring about a change in the attitude of the unions.

The government knows that the laws are not unconstitutional and will not be quashed by the court. They also know that the apex court has already suggested that a committee of all stakeholders be formed to resolve the issue. The farm unions have rejected that suggestion. Hence, the unions have no legal recourse as of now and getting the laws changed or repealed through agitation and political pressure is the only way open to them.

But by making this a fight for ego, the unions are doing a disservice to the nation. By insisting on the government to repeal the laws, they are giving the signal that they are against reforms. Otherwise, they cannot say that they have not been consulted since the laws were in the making for over a decade and even leaders like Capt Amarinder Singh, who are now supporting the farmers, were in agreement with most of the clauses. The best way forward would be to discuss the laws clause by clause and get the government to amend or abandon the contentious ones. But who will persuade the unions to come around to this view?

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