The bonhomie between the government and the unions had been visibly reduced compared to the last meeting on December 30, during which the ministers participated in the langar brought for farmers by the Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee of Delhi. This did not happen this time, as the farmers sat on the ground and ate the langar that the DSGMC had brought them, while the government had the official lunch.
Furthermore, the meeting was not preceded by public pronouncements of a thaw by governments, as had happened with statements by Rajnath Singh and Som Parkash in the run-up to the sixth round of talks.
In the sixth round of talks, the government said it would grant exemptions to farmers in the Electricity Law and on the issue of stubble burning.
But this time he was clearly in a much less conciliatory frame of mind, with his firm refusal to even begin discussing the repeal of the three laws.
However, this is not unexpected.
The Quint had previously reported that there is a fundamental difference in the views of the government and farmers.
On the one hand, the government is completely convinced of the need for all three laws.
He does not consider the growing influence of some companies in the agricultural sector to be a bad thing. Far from it, the government actively thinks that boosting Indian corporate giants and creating the conditions for them to compete on the world stage is in the national interest.
On the other hand, farmers see the three agricultural laws as a death sentence for their livelihood.
In Punjab especially, farmers say that due to the Green Revolution, they compromised the sustainability of their agriculture, especially the water table and soil quality, so that the country’s food security needs could be met. Therefore, the fact that the government withdraws support and makes them vulnerable to corporate interests is considered treason.
This difference is at the core of the current stalemate.
Therefore, the only possible halfway measure is if the government agrees to suspend the three agricultural laws for a fixed period and a time-bound committee is established to draft new laws that address the concerns of farmers and farmers. at the same time implement government reforms.
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