-The Indian Express Centre must make transparent efforts to push exports consistently and not follow the stop-go policy emanating from price controls for the Indian consumer market. The flashpoint between the agitating farmers and the central government is essentially rooted in the mismatch between the supply and demand for the wheat crop in India. The genesis of the current state of affairs stems from policies initiated over half a century ago when...

-Press release by Vikalp Sangam (vikalpsangam.org), dated 5th December, 2020 Vikalp Sangam (vikalpsangam.org) -- a conglomeration of 60+ active CSOs and members -- in its press release dated 5th December, 2020 has stated that the newly enacted farm laws of the Centre will lead to further land alienation (landlessness) and destitution of the peasantry because the laws permit, in thinly disguised form, the unsparing loot by the lobby of agri-businesses and...

-The Hindu The Farm Acts that are the focus of the farmers’ protest bear variously on the different strata of the farming community At a kisan rally in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh on February 28, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of his vision of doubling the income of India’s farmers by 2022. Subsequently, several central leaders and even official committees have reiterated this tall promise. Probably, one of the measures that the...

-The Hindu Discontent over the new farm laws is a result of sidestepping debate and discussion in Parliament The ongoing farmers’ agitation epitomises the need to have detailed discussions and consultations while making law and policy. The process of building consensus and addressing concerns may be time-consuming, but it leads to greater acceptance of policy objectives. While such work has to be done at multiple levels, Parliament is perhaps the most important...

-TheWire.in While landless farm workers and landless peasants outnumber land-owning farmers, the former are almost entirely absent in the policy and policy-debates on farming. What is the most numerous segment of Indian society? Many people routinely believe that it is land-owning farmers. But no, the latest census data says that it is the rural landless who comprise the largest segment of our populace. At present, the latest census data we have is for...