oppn parties Farmers Are Behaving Irresponsibly Now

News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Farmers Are Behaving Irresponsibly Now

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-16 15:18:14

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 farm unions have all but rejected the idea of a committee to discuss and solve the dispute over the new farm bills. This is unfortunate. The unions are adamant that the laws have to be repealed. They say that forming a committee is not the solution as the talks which were being held with the government were being held in the form of a committee meeting only. In short, the farmers are saying that there is nothing to discuss and the laws need to be repealed. They are also saying that if a committee needed to be formed, the time for that was before the said acts were drafted and then enacted.

This adamant and inflexible attitude is incomprehensible. Do the farmers mean to say that there is nothing good in the three new bills? Do they mean to say that the farm sector should run as it is running now and there is no need for reforms? Do they mean to say that they are totally against any kind of reform? If not, then why are they consistently insisting on repealing the laws and are not willing to discuss the new bills clause by clause, as suggested by the government, and suggest deletion, alteration or amendment of offending clauses?

Structural reforms change the status quo completely and in the process trample upon many sensitive toes. But that does not mean that they cannot be undertaken. In the 1990s, the economy had opened up and old monopoly businesses (the Ambassador car, for one) had suffered. They had been protected and insulated for long. But the changed reality post the opening up of the economy saw competition and survival of the fittest, with the consumer being the king.

Obviously, the farm sector cannot be subjected to such ruthless changes. The government is not unaware of the fact. The new farm bills have enough checks and balances to prevent a takeover by the corporate sector. Yet, if the farmers feel that there are shortcomings or are fearful about anything, the government is willing to listen to them and change the laws suitably.

But if they resist change just for the sake of maintaining the outdated status quo and do not allow the government to introduce much needed reforms, they will be doing a disservice to the nation. They should change their stand and negotiate with the government to have the law amended to protect their interests while allowing reforms.