-The Indian Express Farmers in poll-bound Bihar are seeking mandis 'like in Punjab and Haryana' Begusarai, Khagaria: In 2006, Nitish Kumar’s government showed the way by repealing Bihar’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act and allowing crops to be freely traded outside the state’s regulated mandis. But 14 years on – when the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has enacted a law dismantling the monopoly of APMC mandis all over India and...
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Behind arhtiyas joining farmers’ stir: Fear of losing hundreds of crores in annual income -Anju Agnihotri Chaba
-The Indian Express There are around 28,000 active arhtiyas in Punjab out of which 50 per cent are the ‘Baniya Arhtiyas’ (traditional arhtiyas), while the other 50 per cent are ‘Zamindar Jatt Arhtiyas’ (mostly farmers’ themselves). Jalandhar: With passing of the Farmers’ Produce, Trade, and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the arhtiyas (commission agents) of Punjab are set to lose around Rs 1700 to Rs 1800 crore annually in ‘commission’. While the...
More »Where reforms and federalism clash -Yamini Aiyar and Mekhala Krishnamurthy
-Hindustan Times The Centre’s attempt to bulldoze the states on agriculture weakens the entire reform process Days after Parliament passed the controversial agriculture bills, several state governments have begun crafting strategies to avoid its implementation. This is a predictable consequence of a process of law-making that undermines India’s federal consensus. Agriculture is a state subject. The passage of national laws, on a state subject, marks a rupture in India’s federal trajectory. There is...
More »P Sainath, the founder editor of the People’s Archive of Rural India and former rural affairs editor of The Hindu, interviewed by Mitali Mukherjee (TheWire.in)
-TheWire.in The journalist says that though there is a very clear pro-corporate intent behind the Bills, they may enable middle-men to wring an even harder grip on the farmers. Amidst an uproar and stiff protest, three contentious farm Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday and Tuesday. The Bills seek to replace ordinances promulgated in June this year and were already cleared by the Lok Sabha. The idea behind all the...
More »Why Government Acted The Way It Did In Rajya Sabha -Brinda Karat
-NDTV Eight opposition members of parliament, arbitrarily suspended from the Rajya Sabha, spent last night at a protest dharna at the foot of the Gandhi statue within the compound of parliament. The conduct of the government and its officials in the Rajya Sabha, which led to such a development, brings it no credit. The country was denied the opportunity to witness the proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday when the...
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