-The Tribune Distressed as they were, the final death blow is sought to be delivered in the agricultural reforms. Why not have MSP till a better alternative is found? Why let the oligarchs loose to prey on farmers? Was there a demand from farmers for these reforms? How has the Centre decided suo motu that this would benefit farmers? IT was the early 1960s and I spent two years in my ancestral...
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Bihar Shows What Happens if Agri-Trade is Left to ‘Free Market’ -Subodh Varma
-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)...
More »Explained: How Haryana farm protests have put Dushyant Chautala in a tough corner -Varinder Bhatia
-The Indian Express The man who has pivoted his politics around the welfare of farmers finds himself the target of protests – even more than the senior coalition partner BJP. Haryana’s young Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and his Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) have been rather more in the line of fire of farmers and the Opposition over the contentious new farm Acts than the BJP, the bigger partner in the state’s...
More »Bengal worries about bill fallout on PDS source -Pranesh Sarkar
-The Telegraph Laws to hit procurement, say officials Calcutta: Three farm reform bills passed by Parliament recently may play havoc with the public distribution system in Bengal as the state government’s procurement programme is likely to get affected because of entry of big players. The Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill...
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...
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