-TheWire.in The text of the ordinances raises some questions about their stated objective to ‘free up’ curbs on trade and help farmers get a remunerative price for their crop. Recently, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government introduced three ordinances to bring in far-reaching agricultural ‘reforms’ in the country. Taken together, these ordinances intend to liberalise the regulatory system in the agriculture sector, provide freedom to farmers and traders to trade in farm...

-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...

-Scroll.in The Central government has thrown its weight behind traders, investors and corporations. Three ordinances approved at a cabinet meeting on June 3 were hailed as landmark decisions that would benefit Indian farmers and transform the agricultural sector. One of these, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, amends the existing act to remove all agricultural commodities from the list of essential commodities. The government assumes that “the freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute...

-The Hindu Business Line Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi threw open the auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining. The decision, which was part of the announcements made by the Centre under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, was already proposed in January through the Mineral Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. What is it? These auctions invite participants to mine coal blocks by bids on the percentage value of coal sold that they will...

-TheWire.in More clarity is needed on what will be considered an export order in case stock limit has to be imposed. Out of the three game-changing ordinances issued by the Centre on June 5, 2020, the shortest and the most critical to the future of investment in agriculture is “The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020”. The ordinance seeks to specify and restrict the conditions under which the government will be empowered issue regulations...