-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...

-ThePrint.in Prior to 2014, Indian farmers mostly organised small protests at the state or local level. Modi govt’s inactions on its promises made farmers go national. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Narendra Modi promised to increase farmers’ income. Yet after coming to power, his government did little towards this promise throughout its FIRst tenure. Recently, however, the Modi government passed three “historic” bills purported to alleviate the woes of India’s...

-The Indian Express As many as 31 farmers’ organisations are to fight collectively against these Bills, and the FIRst agenda on their common programme is the ‘Punjab Bandh Call’, slated for September 25. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against three farm reform bills — 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...

-The Tribune With APMC markets heading towards a collapse, the new set of reforms is aimed at encouraging corporatisation, with big business moving into agriculture, storage and marketing. As the experience of US/Europe shows, when unregulated markets become dominant, small farmers are the FIRst to be pushed out of agriculture. Reiterating what former US Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz (during Ronald Reagan’s rule) had declared: “Get big or get out,” Sonny Perdue, US...

-Hindustan Times The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, bring new rules for hiring and firing of labour in mid-sized and large industries, making retrenchment easier. Parliament on Wednesday passed the three labour code bills – the Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020 – merging 24 central labour laws in a major boost to labour reforms. The National Democratic Alliance...