-Newsclick.in In 2006, chief minister Nitish Kumar scrapped the APMC Act in Bihar and the destructive effects can be seen in the seething anger amongst farmers. What the Narendra Modi government recently did through passing laws to deregulate agricultural trade, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had accomplished 14 years ago, in 2006. Soon after becoming chief minister in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he scrapped Bihar’s Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC)...

-OutlookIndia.com With the farm bills, The BJP is not so much conducting an experiment as it is following a predictable agenda of right-wing accumulation by dislocation and obfuscation. For the last three weeks, thousands of peasants and their supporters have blockaded roads and rails and marched on government buildings in Punjab, Haryana and elsewhere in north India. This is in response to the BJP government's rushed passing of three controversial farm bills...

-IdeasforIndia.in Wrapping up the Symposium on farm bills, Mekhala Krishnamurthy and Shoumitro Chatterjee contend that regulatory reforms are an important but limited part of what must be both a more comprehensive and contextual approach to policy design and implementation. Moreover, when it comes to markets, it is crucial to think through what market regulation can and cannot do and to understand the role that mandis play in India’s agricultural marketing system. Over...

-Vikalp.ind.in While the country is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy is in doldrums, the central government, instead of taking measures to provide immediate relief to the distressed population, has used the opportunity to introduce sweeping changes in the regulatory framework of the agricultural marketing system of the country. On June 3, 2020, the Cabinet approved three ordinances. These ordinances were converted into Acts after they were passed, under...

-Livemint.com Wide disparities in agri-marketing regulations have resulted in fragmented markets across states. The new farm bills aim to change this but the jury is still out on whether it will have the intended impact. On 26 September, government procurement of food crops commenced across the country, five days in advance, following the enactment of three contentious farm bills. Under the new policy regime, farmers need not sell their produce through designated...