Under the previous laws, farmers had to sell their goods at auction at their state's Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) where they were bound to receive a minimum of the government-agreed minimum price
Neyaz Khalid Noor
This isn't the first time that enormous protests have rocked India, the world's largest democracy but at this point, it poses a singular challenge for PM Narendra Modi. Modi Ji and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have tried to convert farmers with a variety of policy proposals in recent years. The BJP government in 2014 said that all crop prices should be fixed at a minimum of fifty above production costs. And in 2016, PM Modi Ji set a target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022.
On the other hand, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at various Delhi border points since 26 November last year, demanding a repeal of three farm laws. They also demanded a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for their crops. Farmers fear that by disbanding of the mandi system, they will not get an assured price for their crops and the “arthiyas" commission agents who give loans to them will be out of business. The farmers also feared that the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 will lead to an end to subsidised electricity hence they wanted the government to withdraw it.
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“It seems like our people are still stuck with internal politics and our country doesn’t want to move forward. I completely support the farmers’ movement but there are people who don’t want our country to grow”, added Neyaz Khalid Noor.
Under the previous laws, farmers had to sell their goods at auction at their state's Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) where they were bound to receive a minimum of the government-agreed minimum price. There have been several restrictions on who could buy, and costs were capped for essential commodities. Three new laws, initiated by the BJP government, dismantled this committee structure, instead of allowing farmers to sell their goods to anyone for any price. According to PM Modi Ji this provides farmers more freedom to sell to buyers without a middleman and sell to other states or large grocery chains. But there are many farmers who are arguing that the laws will be allowing big companies to drive down prices. While farmers could sell crops at higher prices if the demand is there, conversely, they might struggle to satisfy the minimum price in years when there's an excessive amount of supply.
Has there been any progress with negotiations?
Government leaders did not reach any agreement or compromise with leaders of quite 30 farmers' unions despite months of negotiation. The government also announced that it had been willing to suspend the laws for an additional 12 to 18 months, while it worked with farmers' unions to hunt a long-term compromise. But protests have continued, with few farmers vowing to not leave until the laws are fully revoked.
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