-The Indian Express The “feminisation of agriculture” in the face of the agrarian crisis has, paradoxically, left women doubly even triply disadvantaged. Yet their concerns still remain largely unaddressed in policy. The large presence of women farmers at protests at Singhu, Tikri, and, lately, the Ghazipur borders of Delhi against the three new agriculture laws, marks a significant moment in the continuum of women’s political mobilisation in the country. Coming against the backdrop...

-The Hindu To show Indian agriculture as being net taxed to argue for the farm laws has poor conceptual validity Over the past three decades, a major rationale offered in favour of liberalising Indian agriculture was that farmers were “net taxed”. In other words, incomes of farmers were kept artificially lower than what they should have been. It was argued that this “net taxation” existed because protectionist policies deprived farmers of higher...

-The Hindu Farmer advocates not impressed by on-ground impact of budget announcements The Union Budget sent mixed signals to the tens of thousands of farmers who have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for the last two months, and the wider agricultural community. On the one hand, the budget allocation for the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare was slashed 8.5% in 2021-22. The flagship PM-KISAN scheme, meant to provide income support to...

-TheWire.in Farmers may have to pay 18% GST on the income earned through corporate farming, which the new laws are expected to promote. Like a retro Bollywood movie with multiple double acts and plot twists, the controversy surrounding the three farm laws is not just limited to the specific legislations per se, but there is more to it, much more sinister. When the Income Tax Act, 1995 (ITA) and Central Goods and...

-TheWire.in While rich farmers, who were so far aloof from the struggle, have been compelled to join the small peasantry in the face of a larger corporate threat, it is yet to be seen if the protests will temper existing inequalities. The present farmers’ struggle knocking at the doors of the capital is a culmination of many streams of ideologies, concerns and a wide class coalition. Like any dynamic mass movement, the...