written by Reina Wong and edited by Alice Shu
In late November of 2020, thousands of farmers in India began protesting three new bills passed by India’s Parliament.
The Farmers(Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act creates a national structure for farmer contracts that protects them when dealing with buyers, companies, etc. that help create a reciprocally profitable system. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act allows intra-state and inter-state trade of farmers’ produce beyond the physical premises of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets. State governments are forbidden from imposing any market fee, toll, or tax outside APMC regions. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act lets the central government balance the stock of certain crops and foods only if there are extreme conditions (war, famine, etc.). Supply limits could be forced if there is a high increase in prices. The first two laws are more concerned with developing the economy and creating direct retail, while the third is about assisting manufacturing, movement, and removing regulation obstacles.
So why are people protesting this? While people recognize that cultural improvement is needed in India, people are more upset with how these laws were introduced. It seems like the laws are trying to protect the farmers. The government has been a wholesaler for the farmers for a long time and has assured minimal prices for farmers but the language is not thorough and the farmers are worried that they will lose the government’s support. The government has tried to negotiate with the farmers on amending the bill, but farmers want to get rid of them completely.
Some are worried that their products will not be purchased and they will go into debt. These laws affect India directly, but global consumers could also lose important items such as ginger and turmeric. These farmers have been protesting outside of New Delhi for weeks even though there have been more than 9.4 million reported cases of COVID-19. "The pandemic has shown us that there are two economies, essential workers across the world are suffering. The farmers in India represent all of them, and their resistance to unjust legislation that privileges the uber-wealthy corporations is a resistance that speaks to so many of us all over the world," said Simran Jeet Singh, a Stephan M. Keller Term Member for the Council on Foreign Relations.
Sources:
Cover Photo by Pandit Amandeep on Unsplash
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