-Hindustan Times The Shiromani Akali Dal will observe a three-hour chakka jam across Punjab from 11am to 2pm in all constituencies. Over two dozens farmers’ organizations from all across the country, supported by 18 political parties including the Congress, take to the streets on Friday protesting the farm bills passed by Parliament. Punjab and Haryana will be the epicentre of the protests, though the demand for legal guarantee of minimum support prices...

-The Hindu The APMC Bypass Bill leaves too much to the benevolence of private players Three farm bills — the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill (commonly referred to as the APMC Bypass Bill), and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill — were cleared by Parliament amid protests from the Opposition. Sudha Narayanan (Associate Professor at the...

-Livemint.com * Mint spoke with farmers in different states and reports their views on the new laws that seek to liberalize India’s agriculture markets In a historic rejig, the government has enacted a new set of laws which seeks to liberalize farm trade, give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside regulated mandis and enter into contracts with buyers at a pre-agreed price, in the hope that free markets will help...

-Livemint.com * The upcoming kharif harvest season will put the new regime to test and farm unrest may spread beyond Punjab and Haryana if crop prices take a hit NEW DELHI: The new legislations that look to rejig India’s vast and fragmented agriculture markets together with amendments to the Essential Commodities Act are significant structural changes brought in by the Narendra Modi government. So far protests by farmers have largely concentrated in...

-Hindustan Times Farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the richest agricultural states, which also account for the highest share of government procurement in India, are at the forefront of these protests. That it has been undoing historical wrongs to boost the Indian economy is a key narrative of the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government. When such moves are criticised, it is quick to portray its opponents as representing a group of...