FARM TALKS

ber 8 and warned of intensifying their protest if the new laws aren’t withdrawn.

Earlier in the day, Doaba Kisan Sangharsh Committee’s Harsulinder Singh said that the protesters – thousands of whom have blocked arterial border roads connecting neighbouring states to Delhi – will not accept an offer to amend the laws.

With farmers standing their ground, Union minister Tomar urged the protesters to ask the elderly and children to return to their homes. “I appeal to all of you to kindly ask senior citizens and children, at the protest site, to go home,” Tomar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

At the beginning of Saturday’s meeting, Tomar told the group of farmer unions that the government is committed to cordial talks and welcomed all positive feedback on the new farm laws, sources said.

Later, minister of state for commerce Som Parkash, an MP from Punjab, addressed the leaders in Punjabi and said the government understands the sentiments of people from the state. A large number of farmers protesting in Delhi are from Punjab.

“We are ready to address all your concerns with an open mind,” a source quoted Parkash as telling the union leaders.

A source told PTI that the government also offered to withdraw cases filed against farmers for stubble burning, as also the cases filed against some of the activists.

Later in the evening, the ministers began talking to smaller groups of 3-4 farmer leaders out of the total 40 representatives present there.

After the meeting, some of the farmers’ leaders said that the government has told them they will provide a proposal when discussions are held next on December 9. “We will discuss it amongst ourselves after which a meeting with them will be held that day,” they said.

While the farmers want the three farm laws approved by Parliament in September to be revoked, the government has leaned on its new reform agenda to raise farm incomes and spur investments in the sector.

The recent laws allow businesses to freely trade farm produce outside the so-called government-controlled mandi system, permit private traders to stockpile large quantities of essential commodities for future sales and lay down new rules for contract farming.

Farmers fear the reforms could pave the way for the government to stop buying staples at federally fixed minimum support prices (MSPs), erode their bargaining power and leave them at the mercy of private buyers.

year and is likely to cost around ₹500-600 for a dose.

Sitharaman acknowledged that the current situation in the country was drastically different from when she presented the budget in February but added that the government had steered the country through the pandemic with a judicious mixture of fiscal and monetary measures.

The finance minister also touched upon the recovery in the second quarter of 2020-21, when the economy shrank by 7.5, outperforming most expectations and registering is a sharp improvement from the 23.9% contraction in the previous quarter.

Sitharaman attributed this showing to an expansion in the core sectors and said that just pent-up demand and the festive season could not have driven this recovery alone. She also pointed to revenue from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) exceeding ₹1 lakh crore for the second consecutive month in November, as a clear indication that economic activity was returning to normal.

“Recovery is consistently happening in the last two months…you hear core sector industries, cement, iron and steel, integrated plants are all going in for expansion, not just in one unit but across the country, you’re hearing of expansion,” she said.

“There is an indication that additional demand coming in. It is not pent up or festival demand. It is likely to sustain.”

Sitharaman contested the assumption that private sector investment continued to be weak, and said core sector expansion couldn’t happen without additional private buy in.

“Banks are also seeing industry approach for additional expansion-related funding requests. You are seeing expansion in capacities and it cannot be without private investment,” she said, adding that one may have to wait for a month to see if credit is also equally expanding.

When asked about inflation – hours after the Reserve Bank of India held rates, indicating inflationary anxieties – Sitharaman said she was not worried by what she termed as seasonal fluctuations.

“There are seasonal ups and downs in prices and the commodities about which we are seeing clear hike in prices are largely seasonal. If you take foodgrains and edible commodities, there are seasonal fluctuations. The government, through inter-ministerial group, has been very frequently looking at changes and taking conscious calls to fill in any supply level shortages through imports and logistical constraints are getting sorted.”

SITHARAMAN CONTESTED THE ASSUMPTION THAT PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT CONTINUED TO BE WEAK, AND SAID CORE SECTOR EXPANSION COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT ADDITIONAL PRIVATE BUY IN.