Congress leader and Member of Parliament Pratap Singh Bajwa on Saturday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw three farm acts.
He also urged the government not to defend its stance with belief that its prestige would be affected if it back down.
"I appeal to the Honourable Prime Minister to withdraw the three farmer Acts as a step to de-escalate the rising tensions and growing divide between the farmer unions and the Government of India. Magnmity is the need of the hour to ensure that the protesting farmers can return to their homes from the borders of Delhi," Bajwa said in a statement.
He said, "As the protests around Delhi have now gone on for over two weeks with no end in sight, the Government of India must take steps to build bridges with the farmer unions. The Government should not take the stance of defending its position due to the belief that their prestige would be harmed if they back down."
"The fact is by repealing the aforementioned Acts, the Government would only stand to gain as one that is willing to listen to the will of the people. After all, the very protesters at the borders of Delhi are the citizens of India who have elected the Government to represent their interests in the Parliament of India," the Congress leader said.
He observed that since the reform of the agriculture sector is a complex process the government must involve all vast stakeholder consultations.
"Reform of the agricultural sector is a complex process that needs to involve vast stakeholder consultations between the Government and farmers representatives from every State/UT, State Governments and other agricultural businesses from across India. Reform cannot happen swiftly in an extremely complicated sector that gives employment to over 500 million Indians," Bajwa's statement read.
"I welcome the intent of the Government of India to improve agriculture in India, but the strength of the legislation can only be seen if there is large-scale acceptance of the process behind drafting the legislation. The farmers have clearly rejected the swift process undertaken to bring in these farm laws," he added.
Farmers have been protesting on Delhi borders against three farm laws enacted recently by the government. They have held five rounds of talks with the government and attended a meeting called by Home Minister Amit Shah. The farmer unions have rejected the proposal for changes in the laws made by the government and said they will intensify their agitation for repeal of the three laws.
( With inputs from ANI )
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