The Enacted Agriculture Bills

Watch – ‘Farmers Will Become Puppets Of Corporates’

As farmers in Punjab and Haryana continue their protests against the recently enacted Agriculture bills, LokMarg speaks to Swaraj India leader Rajiv Godara on why their organization is supporting the farmers’ demands.

Godara says the very fact that there were no debates, nor any discussions with farmer organisations before tabling this bills raises questions on the intention of the BJP-led Centre. He believes, the Centre wants to destroy mandi system and create new markets. “The day kisan mandis fails, the MSP will also be inevitably fail,” Godara told LokMarg. The NDA government plans to send the farmers off the field, and put corporates in their place. These laws will make farmers puppets in the hands of big businessmen, he says.

Watch the full interview here:

Watch – ‘New Laws Won’t Raise Income Of Farmers’

Dr Shantanu Dey Roy, Asst Professor in TERI School of Advanced Studies, tells LokMarg the inherent flaws and lacunae in the recently-enacted Central Agricultural Bills. Dr Roy says while these laws will be detrimental to the consumer, due to price manipulation, they will be ineffective in raising the income of the farmers. For, using this bill, big corporations can enter into the production network, and dictate the production process. Thus food security can be compromised.

Dr Roy points out that the main problem facing our farmers today is high input cost and low returns, rending agriculture unprofitable. Thus, the need is to fix a minimum price for various crops to turn farming into a profitable venture. These bills do little to address this problem. As far as the Centre’s claims about wiping out middlemen from the process are concerned, these are nothing but wishful thinking, he says.

Watch the full interview here:

How Traditional Mandi System Works

Watch – ‘Govt Wants To Ruin Mandis, Wholesalers’

Updesh Yadav, president of Navin Mandi Sthal (farm produce wholesale market) in Uttar Pradesh, explains how traditional mandi system works across the country. According to Yadav, these mandis boost competition and benefit the farmers by fetching them the due price of their produce.

Yadav told LokMarg that the newly-enacted Agriculture bills in Parliament will not only prove detrimental to the country’s farmers but also wipe out a large number of wholesalers.

Watch his interview here: