-CaravanMagazine.in The sky had been overcast all day in Gharachon village, in Punjab’s Sangrur district. It was cold and by evening, it started to rain. None of that deterred Gurmail Kaur, as she prepared for the “Chalo Dilli” rally for the next day—an “onwards to Delhi” march called by farmers’ organisations of Punjab, to protest the three farm laws recently enacted by the Narendra Modi government. The plan was to reach...
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Bihar scrapped APMC Act, mandi system 14 years ago; here’s what it did to farmers -CK Manoj
-Down to Earth Why are farmers protesting the government’s ’reforms’, ask many. A look at how Bihar’s farmers have fared may explain The recent controversy about India’s newly minted farm laws have brought back into focus what Nitish Kumar did a decade-and-a-half ago: Shutting down the mandi (wholesale markets for agricultural produce) system in 2006. The much-touted ‘reform’ has impacted the state’s farmers, and not in a good way. Farmers have had to...
More »The many layers to agricultural discontent -Valerian Rodrigues
-The Hindu The Farm Acts that are the focus of the farmers’ protest bear variously on the different strata of the farming community At a kisan rally in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh on February 28, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his vision of doubling the income of India’s farmers by 2022. Subsequently, several central leaders and even official committees have reiterated this tall promise. Probably, one of the measures that the...
More »The grapes of wrath -Anup Sinha
-The Telegraph Narendra Modi’s agricultural reforms have angered farmers The farmers’ protest near New Delhi is a major political event challenging the Narendra Modi government. The participation is widespread and it is growing by the day. That farmers have been unhappy with their economic condition was evident from the number of marches to Delhi during the past two years. This time the protest is about three Bills passed in Parliament in September...
More »Why should Indian agriculture be liberalised when in most countries governments subsidise it? -Christophe Jaffrelot and Hemal Thakker
-The Indian Express Without some support from the state, the smallest of Indian peasants would be even more vulnerable. On September 27, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to three contentious farm Bills passed by Parliament — The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (FAPAFS), the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (FPTC) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020...
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