The government's negotiations with protesting farm unions hit a roadblock on Friday as the farmer leaders stuck to their demands for a complete repeal of three farm laws they find pro-corporate and a legal guarantee for MSP, even as the Centre asked them to reconsider its proposal for putting the Acts on hold for 12-18 months.
Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting as the government also hardened its position saying it is ready to meet again once the unions agree to discuss the suspension proposal. This followed a big climbdown made by the Centre during the last round when they offered to suspend the laws and form a joint committee to find solutions.
According to one of the union leaders, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar ended the meeting by saying that there is no deficiency in the law, but the Centre had still made a proposal respecting the farmers. However, he said that the farmers had been unable to take a decision. “If you reach a decision, then inform us and we will discuss again,” the Minister was quoted as saying by the union leader.
"At the end of the meeting, the Agriculture Minister told us that this is the government's best proposal, and that the government has nothing further to offer," said Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch leader Kavitha Kuruganti after a meeting that lasted more than four hours, but only had Ministers and union leaders in the same room for about 20 minutes.
Some forces want protest to continue: Tomar
Meanwhile, Mr. Tomar said some "forces" definitely want protests to continue for their own personal and political motives and no resolution is possible when the sanctity of agitation is lost.
The Minister said the farmer unions have been asked to revert till Saturday if they agree to the government's proposal for putting the laws on hold and forming a joint committee to reach a solution, after which the talks can continue.
"We also told farmers to give their own proposal, other than the repeal of Acts, if they have got anything better than our offer," Mr. Tomar told reporters after the talks that lasted for almost five hours but included less than half an hour of active discussion between the two sides.
Asked whether he expects the farmers to agree to the government offer, he said, "I don't want to speculate, but we are hopeful that farmer unions will consider positively our proposal." On whether he saw any division among the union leaders on the government proposal, Tomar did not give a direct reply but said, "We thanked all farmer leaders, including those who support our proposal and those who are against it." "We should remain hopeful. Let's wait till tomorrow to hear farmer unions' final decision," he said.
Taking a hardline position, the Minister said some external force was definitely trying to ensure that the agitation continues and those were obviously against the interests of farmers.
"Government gave many proposals to end the protest, but no resolution is possible when the sanctity of an agitation is lost," he said.
Mr. Tomar said the three farm reform bills were passed in Parliament for farmers' benefit and will increase their income. The ongoing agitation is mainly by those from Punjab and some from a few other states, he added.
Mr. Tomar said the talks between the government and farmers are continuing since October 14 and there have been 11 rounds so far, including one with officials and others with the Ministers.
Government unhappy with unions
Earlier, in a tense start to the 11th round of talks, the Union Ministers expressed their unhappiness that the unions first told the media about their decision to reject the proposal to suspend the three farm laws, instead of first informing the government directly.
According to several union leaders and government sources, Mr. Tomar then asked the unions to reconsider their decision and discuss it again among themselves. The unions met separately, and again decided to stick to their stance. The meeting then took a lunch break.
During the Wednesday talks, the Centre had offered to stay the implementation of the three laws for up to 18 months, and set up a joint committee to continue dialogue with farmers on the fate of the laws.
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader P. Krishnaprasad said that one of the reasons that they decided to reject the government’s proposal was that they received legal advice that the Centre had no power to stay or suspend a law passed by Parliament.
Lawyers told the AIKS that the government could ask the Supreme Court to stay the implementation of laws, or take them back to Parliament and get a repeal law enacted. Only Parliament could either amend or repeal a law. The legal advice received was that the government proposal to suspend the law for 18 months had no legal validity, he stated.
Nevertheless, a number of Punjab unions argued that it would be better not to reject the Centre’s proposal outright during their internal meeting on Thursday. One leader said the final vote among the Punjab unions was a close 17-15 in favour of rejecting the proposal. Some leaders felt the unions should be willing to compromise in response to the government’s concession. However, others noted that any sign of compromise could be seen as a betrayal by the tens of thousands of protesters gathered at Delhi’s borders for the last two months demanding a repeal of the three laws.
Some leaders’ warning
Even among the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, which decided unanimously to reject the proposal, some leaders warned that farmers must decide at what point to end the protest, as it could not go on indefinitely.
The wider Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) meeting on Thursday night was chaired by Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav and it decided to reject the government proposal without much dissent.
However, the SKM general body then spent several tense hours discussing the clash between Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh leader Shiv Kumar Kakkaji Sharma and Haryana leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni, who heads a faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.
Mr. Sharma, who had previous links with the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh had accused Mr. Chaduni of taking money from a political party. The issue would now be referred to a sub-committee, said one leader.
- With PTI inputs