-The Indian Express No doubt, with these laws, agricultural operations may become more efficient, but they threaten to lead to the marginalisation of the farmers. In other words, agriculture may flourish, but agriculturists could perish. The farmers’ agitation is unique in many ways. One, it is a coming together of 31 ideologically competing organisations. Two, it has successfully purged itself of the influence and interference of the established political parties as reflected...

-CaravanMagazine.in On 20 September, the Rajya Sabha passed two contentious bills related to the farm sector— the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill. On 22 September, it passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. The Lok Sabha had earlier passed these bills amid stiff opposition from farmers. The bills introduce changes in the way agricultural...

-The Indian Express Policy is not based on assessments of deprivation — it merely addresses specific groups The Gujjars of Rajasthan are back on the streets. This could be seen as an attempt to corner the newly-formed Congress government in the state. Both Congress and BJP have had the taste of Gujjar wrath earlier. It could also be seen as an extension of intra-party factionalism playing out in the open for...

-The Indian Express It would have made more sense — economically, legally, politically, morally, constitutionally — to have limited 10 per cent EWS reservation to those with farming or rural backgrounds The last few years have seen the so-called dominant farming communities — especially the Jats, Marathas, Patidars and Kapus — mount violent agitations demanding quotas in government jobs and higher educational institutions, whether under the OBC (Other Backward Class) or...

-The Indian Express Insecurity, more than poverty or indebtedness, is the key economic issue that politicians must address If social inequality is the most acutely felt social problem in India, insecurity, more than poverty, is the most acutely felt economic problem. While most measures suggest that only around one-fifth of the population today is under the official poverty line, large sections of those even much above that line are subject to...