Corporate feast at farmers’ cost

The recent farm Bills, which received President’s assent, are amongst the various policy decisions to revive the sagging economy. These are crucial laws as they affect the livelihood of millions of farmers. The government claims these are historic since they give farmers the freedom to sell their produce to anyone anywhere in the country and will create a system in which farmers and traders can sell and purchase outside the mandis. It also claims they will encourage intra-State trade as well as cut transportation cost and enable farmers to engage with agri-business companies, retailers and export services, thereby connecting farmers to modern technology.

But in reality, it is a distant dream, especially for small and marginal farmers, as the government tries to corporatise farming in the name of agricultural reform. The new laws neither have any clause on regulation outside the mandis nor do they have any grievance redressal mechanism to address farmers’ disputes related to negotiable trade.