-Newsclick.in This is because the new farm laws have already paralysed mandis and traders are buying up paddy at lower prices. Even as farmer protests against the three new farm laws entered the 17th day, information available for mandis (wholesale markets) shows that a large proportion of this year’s paddy crop is being bought from farmers at much below the government declared Minimum Support Price (MSP). This could be attributed to the...

-Newsclick.in The agitating farmers have time and again voiced apprehensions about losing their land. Will the implementation of the Farm Laws enforce such a change? On December 8, more than 50 lakh people were estimated to have observed a countrywide Bharat Bandh at around 20,000 protest sites, in as many as 22 states in India. The farmers were joined in their agitation by mass organisations, trade bodies, sectoral federations, and about 24...

-Newsclick.in These laws denude federalism and attempt to turn a nation of farmers into an agricultural market led by big business. In 2018, the Aadhaar Act was passed as a money bill, which a dissenting judgement of the Supreme Court described as a “fraud on the Constitution”. A presidential notification amended Art. 370 of the Constitution by giving an anti-democratic interpretation to Art. 367. The Citizenship Amendment Act was brought in under...

-Newsclick.in The global study, published by BMC Public Health, revealed that about 44% of the worldwide farming population (total 860 million) are poisoned by pesticides every year. In a comprehensive study published on Monday, December 8, scientists estimated that about 385 million people, particularly among farmers and agriculture workers, are poisoned by pesticides every year including 11,000 deaths per year. Among the fatalities, nearly 60% or 6,600 deaths per year occur in...

-Newsclick.in The government must analyse its existing data collection exercises, rationalise them and improve the inefficient statistical administration. It is good news that the Labour Bureau will revive its establishments-based Quarterly Employment Surveys or QES, using a larger sample. Since the Periodic Labour Force Surveys or PLFS collects data from households, the proposed quarterly survey of jobs will collect data from establishments. But it is advisable to review the multiple existing employment...