DNA Exclusive: Will agitating farmers return home as Centre agrees to their 50% demands?

New Delhi: After a marathon meeting of nearly five hours, the sixth round of negotiations between the government and farm unions reached some common ground on Wednesday (December 30) to resolve the concerns of agitating farmers on the rise in power tariff and penalties for stubble burning. The two sides, however, remained deadlocked over the key contentious issues of the repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.

After the sixth round of negotiations held between three Union ministers and a 41-member representative group of thousands of farmers protesting on Delhi borders, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that at least 50 percent resolution has been reached with mutual agreement on two out of four items on the agenda. 

The Union Agriculture Minister, however, said that discussions would continue on the remaining two on January 4 at 2 pm. Tomar said that the government and the farmers reached an agreement over the latter`s demands to keep farmers out of the penal provisions of the Commission for the Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020, and to withdraw the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.

The Agriculture Minister told reporters, "We discussed stubble burning and the government assured the farmers that their concerns will be taken into account. The electricity bill was also discussed... this has not been enacted. Farmers believe that subsidy will be withdrawn (under this)." 

Tomar hailed the unions for maintaining peace and discipline during their protest but urged them to send the elderly, women, and children back to their homes due to the extreme cold weather. He said the farmer union leaders kept insisting on the repeal of the three farm laws, but the government side tried to explain to them the benefits of the Acts and sought to know specific problems faced by the farmers.

On farmers' demand for a legal guarantee for procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP), Tomar said the government has already said that it is ready to give a written assurance, adding "Talks will continue on these two issues." 

The farmers, who have been agitating on the Delhi borders for 35 days, came to attend the sixth round of talks with the government after a break of three weeks. The meeting started around 2.30 pm at Vigyan Bhavan with Tomar, Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal, and Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash heading the government side.

Notably, an official statement later said the government offered to set up two committees -- one to ensure parity between the MSP and the market price and the other on finding alternatives to the farmers' demand for the repeal of the three laws while upholding the constitutional values.

Interestingly, the three ministers joined the farmer leaders to share their langar food during the lunch break. The farmer union representatives also accepted the beverage offered by the government during the evening tea break. For the last few meetings, farmer leaders have been arranging their own food and beverages and had refused to accept even water offered by the government. The visuals gave a clear message that now the ice has started melting between the two sides. 

Farmer leaders said the government has agreed to their demands for dropping the penal provisions against farmers in an ordinance relating to stubble burning and to put on hold a proposed electricity amendment law. There was no concrete movement on their main demands for repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee for MSP, union leaders said.

On a positive note, the unions have also decided to postpone their proposed tractor rally, scheduled for Thursday (December 31), till the next round of talks on January 4.

If we recall Russian writer Leo Tolstoy's saying that "Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." This also fits in the context of the farmers' movement. The Kisan unions want that the income of farmers should increase and their difficulties are reduced, but they are not ready to change them. The Leftist forces and other anti-India forces are allegedly behind misleading the innocent farmers.

When the new citizenship law was passed, people of a particular religion were intimidated that their citizenship would be taken away. Similarly, farmers from a particular region are being told that their lands will be taken away. The truth is that neither the citizenship of anyone was gone nor the land of anyone will be lost.

The government has enacted new agricultural laws to increase the income of farmers, who will be able to sell their produce on their own terms. On the contrary, the agitating farmers are not ready for change as they believe that repealing the new laws would only secure their interest.

Notably, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh have been protesting at several borders of Delhi, demanding the repeal of the three farm laws, among other demands.