New Delhi: While observing that reforms are indeed important to save the farming sector from plunging to further crisis, a group of 200 academics from across the country have noted that the Narendra Modi government has failed to hold due deliberations with farmers before enacting the Central farm laws, which are being described by it as “historic”.The signatories of the statement released in support of protesting farmers are carrying research in various fields at some of the prestigious academic institutions in the country, including the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore; Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur; India Institute of Technology Madras; National Center For Biological Sciences, Bangalore; University of Hyderabad; among others.The statement has noted that the Centre instead of attending to the genuine concerns of farmers has responded with high-handedness, misinformation campaign resulting in a standoff and leaving farmers high and dry on the borders of Delhi.It further notes that the regular process of holding wide ranging consultations with stakeholders, parliamentary committees for over a year before any successful act is passed has been given a go by. This, the academics note, has resulted in the genuine concerns of farmers not being reflected in the Central farm laws.“We are particularly concerned that these reforms render small farmers vulnerable to exploitation by large-scale buyers by creating unregulated markets,” the statement adds.Reproduced below is the full statement of the academics.§Statement of solidarity with farmers by the academic community27 December 2020As citizens and members of the academic community, we are deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in the farm sector. The seasonal nature of farming renders farmers deeply vulnerable to exploitation at the time of harvest. We strongly believe that real reforms are sorely needed to protect the livelihoods of the millions of farmers who bring food to our plate despite enormous hardships.However, real reforms are successful only when they are based on extensive consultation and consensus-building, particularly with the stakeholders (the farmers) involved and affected by the reforms. We are therefore anguished to note the failures of the Government on several fronts —Failure to follow due process: These reforms, touted by the Government as historic and sweeping in their nature, have been passed without much deliberation or discussion in parliamentary committees, unlike other successful Acts that often go through a year of deliberation before being passed.Failure to consult the real stakeholders. The reforms have been enacted without consulting the farmers or farmers organizations who are the real stakeholders and who will be the most impacted by theFailure to acknowledge genuine concerns. Farmers organizations nationwide have expressed genuine concerns regarding the reforms. The Government has flatly refused to acknowledge these concerns. We are particularly concerned that these reforms render small farmers vulnerable to exploitation by large-scale buyers by creating unregulated markets.Failure to acknowledge the right to peaceful dissent. Farmers nationwide have organized massive peaceful protests to voice their concern against the farm bills, but the government has responded to these protests with force, high-handedness and misinformation, with no major progress made even tillThis is a golden opportunity for the Government to listen to its people. We call upon the Government to protect the right to peaceful and non-violent dissent by the farmers, engage in constructive dialogue, and enact genuine reforms to protect small farmers from exploitation.We stand in solidarity with farmers across India and salute their efforts.This statement is being issued in the personal capacity of all the undersigned members of academic institutes in and around Bengaluru.The Undersigned,NamePositionAffiliation1.Sathishkumar NarayanaswamyPhD Scholar2.Khader Valli RupanagudiScientific Officer, CBRIISc Bangalore3.Hariharan AProject AssistantIISc Bangalore4.Abritty KiskuStudentIISc Bangalore5.Thomas CherianStudentIISc Bangalore6.Nafis Rezwan Khan ChowdhuryResearcherIFIC, Valencia7.Sumana TStudentIISc Bangalore8.Rohit RamakrishnanStudentIISc Bangalore9.Mohd MoidStudentIISc Bangalore10.Deep Bhasker PatelStudentIISc Bangalore11.Chandrakant HarjpalStudentIISc Bangalore12.Praful KumarResearcherUniversität Rostock13.Soham RayStudentIISc Bangalore14.Bharadwaj RudravelliStudentUniversity of Hyderabad15.SUMANDEEP KAURStudentIISc Bangalore16.Manjot kaurstudentDAV university, Jalandhar17.KaramResearcherNABI, Bangalore18.amarjeet sharmaresearch scholarIISc Bangalore19.Geetika SangariStudentDAV University, Jalandhar20.Manpreet kaur brarStudentHMV college 21. Yatin Madan StudentNational Agri Food Biotechnology Institute22.Dr. Deepa KGFacultyUniversity of Kerala23.Shivam ChakrabortyResearch ScholarIIT Madras24.Abhishodh PrakashPostdocICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru 25. Aratrika Dey StudentIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru 26. Pavankumar Senior research fellowIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru27.Mohd khurram niyaziStudentHimgiri Zee University28.Sukhmanpreet KaurStudentIISc Bangalore29.Kaval reddy PrasasviResearch fellowIISc Bangalore30.SP ArunFacultyIISc Bangalore31.Sonu kumarStudentRayat bahra university, mohali32.Suvrat RajuFacultyICTS-TIFR33.PrahalladFacultyRaj Malhotra34.Karandep SinghstudentGNDU College Jalandhar 35. Dhanush S R ResearcherIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru36.Venu Madhav GovinduFacultyIISc Bangalore37.Namrata GundiahFacultyIISc Bangalore38.Sukhamjot KaurStudentGNDU college Jalandhar39.Vignesh OResearcherIISc Bangalore40.Paridhi Subbaian KaliamoorthyStudentIISc Bangalore41.Arindam RoyFacultyChrist University, Bangalore42.KamaleshwaranStudentPanimalar Institute of Technology 43. Sharmila ResearcherIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru44.Shubhankar SahaStudentIISc Bangalore 45. Prajwel Joseph StudentIndian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru46.Akash GulatiResearcherIISc Bangalore47.Purendra PrasadProfessorUniversity of Hyderabad48.Sudeepan DattaResearcherIISc Bangalore49.Ankita TandonUnemployedUnemployed50.Kartik RathiStudentIISc Bangalore51.Sanjit ChatterjeeFacultyIISc Bangalore52.Manjot kaurstudentDAV university, Jalandhar53.Manjot kaurstudentDAV university, Jalandhar54.Ritwick SarkarDoctoral StudentRaman Research Institute, Bangalore55.Pradeep Kumar GStudentIISc Bangalore56.Ezaz AhmadStudentIISc Bangalore57.Mohd MoidStudentIISc Bangalore58.S. Durga BhavaniFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad59.Anupama PotluriFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad60.K. LaxminarayanaFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad61.Sowmya DechammafacultyUniversity of Hyderabad62.R D SinghNoMDU, Haryana63.Purendra PrasadSociology ProfessorUniversity of Hyderabad64.Joby JosephFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad65.Prabhu R NottFacultyIISc Bangalore66.MadhoolikaStudentIISc Bangalore67.K. Suneetha RaniFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad68.Sourjyadeep ChakrabortyPh.DJNCASR Bangalore69.Sricharan SunderStudentIISc Bangalore70.Aradhita ChattopadhyayaResearcherTrinity college Dublin71.Titas PramanikResearch associateIISc Bangalore 72. Pradeep Kumar M LSenior Facility Technologist IISc Bangalore73.Avipsa BoseStudentIISc Bangalore74.Sadhitro DeStudentIISc, Bangalore75.Anushka SahaStudentIISc Bangalore76.Souravi MukherjeeStudentIISc Bangalore77.Soumitra DasResearcherIISc Bangalore78.Subhadip BasuStudentIISc Bangalore79.Mainak MondalStudentIISc Bangalore80.BudhadityaStudentIISc Bangalore81.Abhirup DasStudentIISc Bangalore82.Jayantika BhowmickResearcherIISc Bangalore83.Anik SahaEx-StudentIISc Bangalore84.Manish VermaStudentIISc Bangalore85.Parvinder SinghStudentIISc Bangalore86.Prithwish SarkarStudentMedical College Kolkata87.RUMPA MASANTAResearcherIISc Bangalore88.Muhammed Munthasir A TResearcherIISc Bangalore89.Protik PaulStudentIISc. Bangalore90.Annapurna BanikResearcherIISc Bangalore91.ESHANI SARKARStudentIISc Bangalore92.Bappa GhoshStudentIISc Bangalore93.Anway PradhanResearcherSaha Institute of Nuclear Physics94.Pranab SarkarResearcherIISc Bangalore95.Surjadipta De SarkarPhD studentIISc Bangalore96.Geetanjali BhatiaResearch scholarIISc Bangalore97.Ashish AnandPostdoctoral fellowIISc Bangalore98.Rishabh ThakkarPhD studentIISc Bangalore99.Abhay JindalResearcherIISc Bangalore100.Debaleena KarStudentIISc Bangalore101.Vijaya Sree kStudentIIT Madras102.Aindrila SahaStudentIISc Bangalore103.SEBABRATA KISKUStudentIISc Bangalore104.Ravi singhStudentIISc Bangalore105.Gudavarthy VijayFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad106.Anjeneya Swami KareFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad107.Mansimar SinghStudentIISc Bangalore108.FacultyUniversity of Hyderabad109.T Sobha RaniAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Hyderabad110.Prof. E VenkatesuFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad111.Rajiv VelichetiAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Hyderabad112.Mainak GuhaUndergraduate studentIISc Bangalore113.Sunita MishraFacultyUniversity of Hyderabad114.Sumaiya TasnimStudentIISc Bangalore115.Sathya Prakash ElavarthiAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Hyderabad116.Sankarshan talluriPhD studentNCBS Bangalore117.Dilawar SinghGraduate StudentNCBS Bangalore 118. Dr Abrar RizviPostdoctoral Researcher inStem Bangalore119.Neha PanwarArchivistNCBS Bangalore120.shreyas niphadkarStudentinStem, Bangalore121.Manisha GoyalStudentinStem, Bangalore122.Pavan KaushikResearcherNCBS, Bangalore123.Sayan BiswasStudent Researcher124.Akshay HegdeSenior research fellowinStem, Bangalore125.Imran SamadStudentNCBS, Bangalore126.Vairavan LakshmananPost-doctoral fellowinStem, Bangalore127.DhruvsResearcherNCBS, Bangalore128.Aalok VarmaStudentNCBS, Bangalore129.Nayan ChakrabortyPhD Research ScholarNCBS-TIFR, Bangalore130.Vrinda RKStudent131.Mohammad ShariqStudentNCBS-TIFR, Bangalore132.Vidya RameshPostdoctoral fellowNCBS, Bangalore133.Mohamed ShafiStudentNCBS Bangalore134.Subhodeep BhattacharyaPhD studentGeorg-August-Universität Göttingen135.Anubhab khanResearcherNCBS Bangalore136.Ankita KapoorResearcherinStem, Bangalore137.Dipannita SarkarStudentNCBS-TIFR, Bangalore138.Keerti PandeyStudentIISc Bangalore139.Shreenidhi RResearcherInStem, Bangalore140.P S SastryfacultyIISc Bangalore141.Abhishek DePhD studentUniversite de Paris142.Shreya Das SharmaPhD studentNCBS Bangalore143.Homica AryaResearcherNCBS Bangalore144.Dayani CStudentNCBS Bangalore145.Abhiroop LahiriResearch AssociateJNCASR, Bangalore146.NIJITA MATHEWStudentJNCASR Bangalore147.NAZIASTUDENTJNCASR, Bangalore148.ANUSTOOP DASResearcher StudentJNCASR, Bangalore149.Anvitha SStudentJNCASR, Bangalore150.Souradip MukherjeeStudentJNCASR, Bangalore151.HARIHARAN MResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore152.Arghya GhoshStudentJNCASR, Bangalore153.Madhulika MazumderStudentJNCASR, Bangalore154.Lopamudra ChatterjeeStudentCalcutta University155.Runa MondalStudentIIT Kharagpur156.Animesh BhuiResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore157.Tejaswini S. RaoStudentJNCASR, Bangalore158.Pooja BarakStudentJNCASR, Bangalore159.Arun PanchapakesanStudentJNCASR, Bangalore160.Reetu Rani MondalResearcherIISc Bangalore161.SukanyaResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore162.Ritam ChakrabortyResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore163.Koyel DasResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore164.Punam pragyaStudentIISc Bangalore165.akshay sarohaResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore166.Arghakusum DasStudentJNCASR, Bangalore167.GAUTTAM DASHStudentJNCASR, Bangalore168.manjushree sardaPhD StudentJNCASR, Bangalore169.Drisya DileepStudentinStem, Bangalore170.Pallavi SarkarResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore171.Abdul Azeez HResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore172.Arindam RayStudentJNCASR, Bangalore173.Arun Kumar VaranasiPh D studentJNCASR, Bangalore174.SREYAN GHOSHResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore175.Faruk Ahamed RahimiPh.D studentJNCASR, Bangalore176.UNNIMAYA K CStudentJNCASR, Bangalore177.Riddhimoy PathakResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore178.Paramita SarkarPhD StudentJNCASR, Bangalore179.Meenakshi PahwaStudentJNCASR, Bangalore180.Swagatam BarmanResearch scholarJNCASR, Bangalore181.Arindam GhoshPhD studentJNCASR, Bangalore182.Priyanka JainStudentJNCASR, Bangalore183.Mahan Rai BanerjeeStudentPhD184.Anusha CStudentJNCASR, Bangalore185.Sabyasachi MandalResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore186.Priyamvada RathaurStudentJNCASR, Bangalore187.Ritwik DasStudentJNCASR, Bangalore188.Suryadev Pratap SinghPh.D.JNCASR, Bangalore189.DEBAJIT KALITAStudentJNCASR, Bangalore190.Ankana SanyalStudentJNCASR, Bangalore191.Bhavya DharmaraajResearch scholarNCBS, Bangalore192.JANAKY SStudentJNCASR, Bangalore193.Amritesh MaitraStudentIISc Bangalore194.Chahat GoyalStudentJNCASR, Bangalore195.SWARNIMA MISHRAPhD StudentJNCASR, Bangalore196.Sambhavi PuriStudentJNCASR, Bangalore197.Souvik BanerjeeResearcherJNCASR, Bangalore198.PALLABI MUSTAFIStudentJNCASR, Bangalore199.Somarghya BiswasStudentPresidency University, Kolkata200.Shalini SanyalPost-Doctoral FellowinStem, Bangalore