-CaravanMagazine.in In 2006, the Bihar government deregulated the agricultural sector, and largely removed government oversight over food grain procurement. Previously a majority of food grain procurement happened through the Agricultural Produce Market Committee, a marketing board run by the state government that would organise mandis—wholesale markets—where farmers could directly sell their produce to the Food Corporation of India or the State Farming Corporation at the established minimum support price. The MSP...
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Corinne Vargha, director of the ILO’s International Labour Standards Department, interviewed by Nileena MS (CaravanMagazine.in)
-CaravanMagazine.in In May 2020, 10 central trade unions jointly wrote twice to Guy Ryder, the director general of the International Labour Organisation, drawing attention to the plight of migrant workers during the COVID-19 crisis as well as the government’s dilution and suspension of labour laws. In May, several states—including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat—introduced sweeping changes in labour laws such as increasing the working hours from eight to 12. The...
More »Price risks make farmers wary of private markets -Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com For over 12 days now, farmers have been pressing the Centre to repeal a set of agriculture laws passed in September. Centre argues that the agenda is to offer choice to farmers while growers see unregulated private markets as a threat to minimum support prices. Mint explores. * Why are farmers more wary of pvt markets? Over the last five years, low global and domestic commodity prices have taken a toll on...
More »For Farmers in Punjab, Minimum Support Price Doesn't Guarantee a Better Income -Vivek Gupta
-TheWire.in With or without the government-mandated minimum support prices, private players in Punjab have been calling the shots, and the new farm laws only legitimise the rampant practice. Chandigarh: Farmers from Punjab, who are up in arms against the Centre’s new farm laws, have more than one reason to remain firm on their demand for the rollback of the contentious laws. For crops where there is no assured government purchase even after the...
More »The new urban poor in Mumbai: Salaries gone, pawning gold to pay school fees, NGO meals, rents unpaid -Mayura Janwalkar and Sadaf Modak
-The Hindu These families are on the brink of urban poverty, forced to do what they once thought was impossible — borrowing for their children's school fees, defaulting on EMIs, falling back on rent, cutting down on necessities. Mumbai: MANY locks in the nation’s financial capital are being opened one by one, new Covid numbers are falling but most doors — or windows — to any opportunity to earn are still firmly...
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