Pay heed to court

This is not the time for the government to cling on to false prestige on a matter that concerns millions of farmers

The Centre must heed to the Supreme Court’s suggestion to put on hold the implementation of the contentious new farm laws to enable wider negotiations with farmers and other stakeholders. This is not the time for the government to cling on to false prestige on a matter that concerns millions of farmers. With the earlier rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ organisations hitting a roadblock, the apex court has done well to intervene in the issue and to calm the ruffled feathers. The court has spoken about forming a committee comprising representatives of the government, farmer organisations and other stakeholders to try and resolve the impasse. Farmers’ right to non-violent protests has been acknowledged, but also the fundamental rights of others to move freely. The situation continues to be delicate, and the apex court’s intervention offers a window of opportunity to end the three-week-long impasse. As of now, both sides appear to have hardened their positions, resulting in a stalemate. The protesting unions appear reluctant to the idea of constituting a panel to break the deadlock, arguing that such an exercise should have been taken up before enactment of the laws. The Centre too has toughened its stand, with some senior NDA leaders going for the jugular. There is a need to tone down the rhetoric and repose faith in the process of dialogue to find an acceptable solution. The Centre must show magnanimity to take the lead. The sight of farmers spending nights out in the biting cold and the spate of deaths are very disturbing.

Apart from eventually pushing small and marginal farmers into the stranglehold of corporate entities, the new farm laws undermine the role of State governments, which are far more accessible and accountable to farmers’ interests than the Centre. Though ostensibly intended to reform agricultural marketing mechanism, the new laws create two different markets with two different sets of rules — a practically unregulated market in the trade area side by side with a regulated market in the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yards, subject to two separate Acts and regimes of market fees. Such fragmentation of markets does not augur well for farmers in the long run. The experience in Bihar, where the APMC Act was withdrawn in 2006, shows that farmers have less choice of buyers and less bargaining power, resulting in lower prices compared with other States. The laws bring in unequal players in contract farming, so farmers’ interests are not protected. Also, there are genuine concerns about possible domination by big agricultural businesses. The current impasse is not in anyone’s interests, and it is the responsibility of the government to proactively resolve it by addressing farmers’ concerns.

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