Days after PM Modi announced the withdrawal of three farm laws, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Saturday said the Centre has also agreed to the demand of farmers’ organisations to decriminalise stubble burning or Jashn-e-Parali as it being mockingly referred to on social media.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Narendra Singh Tomar said, “Farmer organisations had demanded to decriminalise stubble burning by farmers. The Government of India has accepted this demand as well.”
Farmer organizations had demanded to decriminalize stubble burning by farmers. Govt of India has accepted this demand as well: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar pic.twitter.com/qE8sAY6WJ4
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) November 27, 2021
It is notable that during negotiations with the farmer organisations during the protests, the central govt had already agreed to decriminalise stubble burning in December last year, along with agreeing to take back the Electricity Amendment Act. The govt had agreed to these compromises hoping that farmer organisations will relent in the three farm laws in return.
The minister also said that the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, will be tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday, the first day of the Winter Session of Parliament. “With the constitution of this committee, farmers’ demand on MSP stands fulfilled,” Tomar told media.
With regards to the withdrawal of cases against farmers during the agitation, Tomar said it is in the domain of the state government and not the Centre.
“Looking at the severity of the cases, the state governments have to take a call and the issue of compensation is also to be decided by them,” he said, adding that every state will decide as per their state legislations.
The spate of announcements came more than a week after PM Modi announced that the Centre would be repealing the three farm laws it had legislated last September.
PM Modi takes cognisance of contuing farmer protests, announce withdrawal of three farm laws
On the 19th of November, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi addressed the nation at 9 AM. Addressing the nation, PM Modi thanked the millions of farmers who appreciated the farm laws, which were introduced after due deliberation and with honest intentions. PM Modi made a startling announcement saying that the government had decided to, however, repeal the 3 farm laws that were passed for the benefit of the farmers.
PM Modi, addressing the nation said that by the end of this month, the Modi government would complete the process of repealing the three farm laws. He then appealed to the protesting farmers and middlemen to return to their homes on this Gurupurab and stop their protest. He further said that the government will form a committee to formulate laws for the benefit of the farmers.
He further said that the government had introduced the laws after due deliberation but perhaps it was the shortcoming of the government that they could not convince all farmers that the laws were indeed in their benefit. Further, he said that the past governments had deliberated on these laws as well but it was the Modi government that had implemented them.
Since last November, a section of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh, had been protesting against the enactment of the reform laws that granted farmers with more opportunities to sell their produce, greater transparency and eliminating the need for middlemen.
The government insisted that the previous mechanism will continue to remain in place, but this did not generate enough confidence among the protesters, who steadfastly squatted on public roads leading to the national capital, demanding the rollback of the three farm laws. With the protest continuing for about 12 months, PM Modi and the Centre gave in to the obstinacy of the protesters, who were arguably headed by a bunch of self-serving opportunists trying to remain relevant in the changing political landscape.
The primary bone of contention for the last 12 months had been the three farm laws. The farmers and the Centre were both ready to strike compromises on other fronts but on the issue of farm laws, either of them had remained resolute on their stand. Nevertheless, the government took cognisance of the continuing stalemate between the authorities and the protesters and grasped the nettle of withdrawing the farm laws after failing to convince the farmers of its benefits.
The invalidation of the three farm laws opened a pandora’s box, emboldening the detractors to pursue the policy of pressurising the government to accept their other demands. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait came up with another set of demands, including a guarantee on MSP, withdrawal of cases against protesters, inter alia and announced that the protests will continue so long as all their demands are not met.
After repealing farm laws, Centre accedes to farmers’ demands of decriminalising stubble burning
On Saturday, two days before the Parliamentary session is to begin, the Agriculture Minister said some of the demands made by the farmers are met. Among them, the most pernicious one is the decriminalisation of stubble burning or Jashn-e-Parali as it is pejoratively referred to as on social media.
With the farm laws repealed, the Centre demonstrated its willingness to go back on its reforms in order to accommodate the demands of a section of protesting citizens. The onus was now on the farmers to prove that they will hold up to their side of the bargain and end the anarchy and chaos that had characterised their protests ever since they began. Instead, emboldened by the Centre’s decision to repeal the three laws, the farmers pressed hard for others demands to be fulfilled as well.
And surprisingly, the government once again succumbed to the pressure. It agreed to decriminalise stubble burning, notwithstanding the fact that stubble burning by farmers in north India has been cited as one of the primary reasons for the unbreathable air in the Delhi-NCR region. Even the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to hold talks with farmers on stubble burning. Yet, the government agreed to farmers’ demand and decriminalised stubble burning. Imposing penalty or punishment for stubble burning was the only bargaining chip the Centre had in their discussions with the farmers that defied the government’s directives and continued burning stubble.
Until now, the criminalisation had served as a subduing effect to a certain extent in dissuading farmers from taking to stubble burning. However, now there is practically no incentive or legal precepts to stop the farmers from indulging in burning stubble or having talks over it with the Centre. They can continue their defiant actions and have a deleterious impact on northern India’s air quality without having to face any legal repercussions.
The need for the Centre to change the rules of engagement
This is certainly not how the government should be presiding over negotiations with a side that has shown utter disregard of the rule of law and has demonstrated no moral scruples to use coercion and intimidatory tactics to pressurise its opponents. The union govt had agreed to decriminalise stubble burning and withdrew Electricity Amendment hoping that farmer organisations will agree to the three farm laws. But that didn’t happen, and the central govt is in a lossing position now. It took back important legislations to convince protestors on the farm laws, but now have withdrawn the farm laws too.
Now that the government has taken back farm laws, should it not also take back all the concessions it had granted to the farmers in their efforts to win their support on the agriculture laws? Should it not revert to the pre-farm bills stage on all laws pertaining to farmers? Ideally, the govt should again criminalise stubble burning, and bring back the electricity amendment, as the farmers didn’t agree to any of the decisions of the central govt.
Negotiations are tough balancing acts, which are won when done from the position of strength. If the Centre thinks they are going to placate farmers by acceding to all their demands, they are in for a rude awakening. Their demands will continue to swell, regardless of the Centre’s generosity in humouring them. If the government is committed to abolishing hidebound agricultural practices and ushering the sector in an era of reforms, it needs to take tough decisions. And the first step towards it would be changing the rules of engagement with implacable holdouts, and not caving in to the pressure imposed by them.
