Three weeks after Parliament passed three controversial farm bills, protests against the legislations continue to be staged in Punjab and H...
Three weeks after Parliament passed three controversial farm bills, protests against the legislations continue to be staged in Punjab and Haryana. When two of the legislations were tabled during a chaotic session in Parliament on September 20, some Opposition MPs claimed that they would prove to be the “death warrant” for the agricultural sector.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party dismissed these concerns, many farmers in Punjab and Haryana are unconvinced. They have adopted a variety of strategies – some time-tested, others more novel – to express their misgivings.
The legislations loosen regulations on the sale, pricing and storage of agricultural produce. They allow farmers to sell to private players outside of the mandis or markets notified by Agricultural Produce Market Committees set up by state government. These committees aim to ensure that large retailers do not exploit farmers and regulate payments to them.
The new laws also allow contract farming through deals with private sector companies.
But farmers have criticised the legisations for allowing corporations to enter the agricultural sector. They are also concerned that this will mark the end of the minimum support price offered by the government on some commodities.
In Haryana, the ire of the farmers has been directed towards Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, the...
