Abhijit Banerjee on why talks between Centre and farmers have been unsuccessful

Banerjee highlighted the 'deep lack of trust' between the Centre and agitating farmers

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee believes that the coronavirus pandemic is not the time to talk about farm laws, advising the government to roll back the laws until viable “parliamentary discussion” is possible.

Farmers have been protesting against the three new farm laws for 20 days now, demanding a complete repeal of the three contentious laws. While the Centre, firm on not giving in to their demand, has held several rounds of talks with farmers, they all have been inconclusive.

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Banerjee, in an interview with NDTV, said it is important to hold this discussion when the economy is on a recovery trajectory, and that the deliberations should mainly address farmers who believe that the new laws will only satiate corporate interests. "People don’t know what will happen to agriculture prices, either in the world in the next few years of India in particular. There is a sense the economy is in freefall. All these macro-economic concerns feedback into people’s security,” Banerjee said.

The economist feels that “deep lack of trust” is one of the reasons why talks between the Centre and the farmers have been unsuccessful.

Banerjee believes that the government proposal on the farm laws is not “fully spelt out”. “Farmers think of a scenario in which one or more corporates hold them to ransom. The proposal needs detail on how the government will deal with such eventualities. Will they promise to step in in certain situations?"