21/12/2020
Since late November, thousands of Indian farmers have expressed their concerns over three new bills proposed by Prime Minister Modi in both houses of India’s Parliament in September. These bills at the surface include: 1) Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; 2) Essential Commodities Act; 3) Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Act.
The three new Farm Laws would facilitate direct sales between cultivators and private companies in selling crops. These freemarket-esque laws were met with resistance by local farmers, with hundreds of farmers from countries such as Punjab and Haryana blocking
highways to Delhi for more than three weeks, against the new farm legislation in fear that it would prompt the government to stop making direct purchases of crops at minimum state
rates, at the minimum support price (MSP). These laws were passed in the hopes of promoting alternative avenues to sell crops, increase the median income and conjuring a more competitive agricultural market.
Tens of thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been parking on various highways along New Delhi's borders since the end of November demanding the roll-back of new legislation aimed at relaxing the rules on the pricing, storage and marketing of crops. Prime Minister Modi has since then invited farmers towards a peaceful settlement, however, nothing short of a complete annulment of the three laws would be enough to sway the protestors from their position.
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/agricultural-reforms-have-started-benefiting-farmers-pm-modi/article33370875.ece
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/12/18/india-farmers-wont-stop-protesting/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/18/several-indian-farmers-dead-in-protests-against-farm-laws
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/centre-reaches-out-to-protesting-farmers-unions-asks-them-to-fix-a-date-for-talks-to-find-solutions/articleshow/79828813.cms
Agriculture’s importance for the labor market cannot be underestimated—especially amid a historic pandemic.