The Centre is open to any proposals that could help to crack the deadlock with protesting farmers, including a reform in the legislation or even the creation of a committee as proposed by the Supreme Court.
With protesters camped at Delhi’s borders for almost a month, official sources said, the government has an open mind on proposals if farm groups demonstrate signs of a reconciliatory strategy. The Government is also formulating a response to the suggestion of the Supreme Court as to whether the enforcement of the legislation can be put on hold before the talks have been held.
ware of the feelings evoked by the protests in Punjab, senior ministers of the Union, including Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah, and senior officials are also engaged in backroom talks with socio-political parties and Sikh community leaders to find a “middle way” and “bring protesting farmers to the table for discussion.”
On Tuesday, Tomar urged the farmers to set a date for talks two days after his Ministry invited farm unions for more discussion.
“But any concession from the Government can only come if the discussions continue,” sources said.
Sources suggest that the government is preparing for a “long journey” and is “confident that the reform initiatives it has taken will benefit farmers.” But it is also aware that “both the optics and the unrelenting protests” will dent its brand, they added.
“And though they’re farmers from only one province, pictures of them sitting in protest don’t look good for any country. Yet we believe that the government has had ample debates and discussions on these rules. In reality, discussions on these issues have been going on since 2001 (when the NDA government was in power under AB Vajpayee),” said sources. “As of now, we have no alternative measures to bring an end to this. No solution can be sought to this until the talks continue. The condition may change, there may be a middle way to go, so there should be talks. It can go on for a long time without talking,” sources said.
