-Newsclick.in The NITI Aayog recommendations to reduce coverage under the NFSA are in tandem with liberalisation of agriculture pushed forward by the government with the passage of three farm laws. On February 28, 2020, it was reported that the central government’s think tank, NITI Aayog, in a discussion paper recommended a revision in the coverage of urban and rural populations under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 to generate annual savings...

-The Hindu Modi government cracked down on critics: report. U.S.-based human rights watchdog Freedom House has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of “driving India toward authoritarianism” with a “hamfisted lockdown”, scapegoating of Muslims, and a crackdown on critics, and downgraded India’s status from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’, in its annual report. “Under Modi, India appears to have abandoned its potential to serve as a global democratic leader, elevating narrow Hindu nationalist interests...

-The Indian Express Haryana farmers' protest: The Indian Express looks at the preparations being made at ground level amid ongoing standoff between the government and farm unions. With no resolution in sight, farmers fighting against the three controversial farm laws have now started preparing themselves for a long battle. With a deep-rooted sentiment among the farmers that the struggle is meant to “save their land”, while terming it their “mother”, they seem...

-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 Many of the Delhi Police personnel deployed at the city borders where farmers are protesting the new agricultural laws are part-time farmers themselves or have fathers who work the fields At the Singhu border protest site, a head constable looks over rows of steel barricades and barriers to lock eyes with his father on the other side. Both stand their ground. The duo may be on opposite sides of the farm...