-TheWire.in In a letter to the Centre, Bihar's agriculture secretary said that farmers were forced to sell their produce at low prices due to lack of go-downs and procurement facilities. New Delhi: Even as protests by farmers continue unabated against the three agriculture laws enacted by the Narendra Modi government, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has spoken in favour of the Centre’s move claiming that the new laws are being implemented across...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Bihar scrapped APMC Act, mandi system 14 years ago; here’s what it did to farmers -CK Manoj
-Down to Earth Why are farmers protesting the government’s ’reforms’, ask many. A look at how Bihar’s farmers have fared may explain The recent controversy about India’s newly minted farm laws have brought back into focus what Nitish Kumar did a decade-and-a-half ago: Shutting down the mandi (wholesale markets for agricultural produce) system in 2006. The much-touted ‘reform’ has impacted the state’s farmers, and not in a good way. Farmers have had to...
More »Why Farmers Are Worried About New Laws; It’s The History -Monika Mandal
-IndiaSpend.com The new farm laws that aim to double farmers’ income in two years by deregulating agricultural markets may further widen the inequalities in the sector, shows our analysis of similar legislations from the past. By weakening the government’s price guarantee system, the laws may end up hurting small and poor farmers, who form 80% of the sector and 23% of those who live below the poverty line, say critics. The privatisation...
More »The perils of deregulated imperfect agrimarkets -R Ramakumar
-The Hindu The Farm Acts were legislative misadventures, while much more is needed to address the genuine fears of farmers The eruption of massive farmers’ protests across India against the Farm Acts has shocked those in the seat of power in Delhi. According to the government, many private markets will be established, middlemen would disappear, farmers would be free to sell to any buyer and farmgate prices would rise. But the protesting...
More »Bihar Shows What Happens if Agri-Trade is Left to ‘Free Market’ -Subodh Varma
-Newsclick.in In 2006, chief minister Nitish Kumar scrapped the APMC Act in Bihar and the destructive effects can be seen in the seething anger amongst farmers. What the Narendra Modi government recently did through passing laws to deregulate agricultural trade, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had accomplished 14 years ago, in 2006. Soon after becoming chief minister in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he scrapped Bihar’s agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC)...
More »