Farmers’ march

The farmers’ agitation against the farm laws, enacted by the Centre in late September despite stiff opposition, has entered a potentially make-or-break phase. Even as the Union Government has invited farmers’ organisations to the Capital for talks on December 3, the protesters — predominantly from Punjab — are bent on taking out a two-day ‘Delhi Chalo’ march. Fearing a massive influx of farmers, the BJP-led government in Haryana has sealed the state’s border with Punjab and imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, besides swooping down on kisan leaders. The developments have raised the spectre of a nasty showdown, pitting the BJP against the farming community as well as the Opposition.

The utter disconnect between the two sides has been a major obstacle. The protesters have tried to dictate their terms to the Centre, taking a call on which trains would ply and which won’t. The railway authorities, in turn, insisted on unrestricted and unconditional passage for all trains. Both the state government and the Railways incurred heavy losses due to the disruption of rail services. Earlier this week, the farmer bodies did make a concession, albeit for a 15-day period, ending the two-month-long suspension of train movement that had hit the supply of coal, fertilisers and other essential goods to Punjab.

Ruling out the revocation of the ‘pro-farmer’ laws, the Centre has been slow to gauge the gravity of the situation. In the past two months, the government has held only two rounds of talks with the farm unions; on both occasions, the deliberations remained inconclusive. On October 14, the farmers walked out of a meeting with the agriculture secretary, complaining that no minister was present to hear them out. Finally, on November 13, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met the union leaders, but to no avail. The Centre needs to proactively engage with the stakeholders and address their concerns. And the protesting farmers should realise that they might run out of popular support soon if they are perceived to be a public nuisance and a disruptive force. Confining themselves to the negotiating table, instead of blocking rail tracks and roads, is their best bet.