Chidambaram pans Centre's 'inflexible' stance, urges 'keep Farm Laws on hold during talks'

On Wednesday, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram contended that the talks with farmers' unions had been scuttled owing to the inflexible position of the Centre. According to him, the Union government was being impractical in categorically ruling out a repeal of the three farm laws. Thereafter, he urged it to accept the CJI-led SC bench's suggestion that the agrarian laws should be held in abeyance during the period of the talks. Observing that the Centre must engage with the farmer leaders without any pre-determined position, the Rajya Sabha MP opined that the only logical conclusion of talks would be that the Parliament repeals the contentious legislation and formulate new laws instead. 

Read: Tomar Releases List Of Farmer Unions Backing Farm Laws, Over 3 Lakh Signatures Submitted

What are the farm laws? 

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 aims at freeing the farmers from the constraints of the state Agriculture Produce Market Committees whereby they would be able to sell their produce anywhere. Meanwhile, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 protects and empowers farmers to engage with processors, wholesalers, large retailers, exporters for farm services. This entails the provision of contract farming. On the other hand, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 specifies that the supply of foodstuffs including cereals, pulses, potato, edible oilseeds, and oils shall be regulated only under exceptional circumstances. 

Read: Harsimrat Badal Claims Centre Misusing IT Dept To Intimidate Arhtiyas Amid Farmer Protests

Unions urge Centre to send a concrete proposal

On December 9, the farmer leaders had unanimously rejected the Centre's proposal for making amendments and called for an escalation in the protests until the farm laws are repealed. Subsequently, PM Modi, his Cabinet colleagues, as well as top BJP leaders, have addressed farmers across the country to address their concerns. Moreover, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar gave 8 concrete assurances to farmers via an open letter.

On December 20, the Centre asked the 40 protesting unions to provide details of all remaining concerns and fix a convenient date for the resumption of talks. Earlier in the day, the farmers' unions sent a letter to the Union government and made it clear that they were not willing to budge from their demand for the repeal of the agrarian laws. Addressing the media, they called upon the Centre to put forth a concrete proposal to re-start talks. 

Read: Faridkot Farmer Cycles 400 Km To Reach Tikri Border With Poem Of 'Pash'