Farm Reform Bills

How much exploitation does Narendra Modi’s popularity cost?

Co-Written by Annesha Mukherjee & Satyaki Dasgupta The popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi saw a rise according to India Today’s ‘Mood of the Nation’ poll. Similar results were also observed in Gaon Connection-Lok Niti-CSDS survey. Some of the economic policies that his popular government has introduced since the advent of COVID-19 include three Bills on agricultural market reforms, three[Read More...]

Farmers’ Own Middlemen

Three new farm Acts were recently introduced in the country. The most important of these, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 is aimed at putting an end to the monopoly of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mandis. Earlier, under the 1964 APMC Act, all the farmers were required to sell their produce at the Government-regulated mandis.[Read More...]

Farm Reform Act Far from Farmers

Amid aggressive protest by the members of the opposition, the Rajya Sabha passed three farm Bills on 20th Sept 2020 by voice vote which were earlier approved by the Lok Sabha. After the approval of the President of India all these three Bills have been the acts for implementation. Those who are not connected to farming argue that the introduction[Read More...]

Punjab Bandh: Masses of Punjab write a new chapter in resistance against farm reform bills

The state of Punjab rose to the occasion in resurrecting the spirit of immortal martyr Bhagat Singh on September 28th.Commemoration conferences or rallies engulfed the whole state shimmering the spark of the ideology of Bhagat Singh in context of the Imperialist policies enslaving the whole population. It is ironical that the homage assemblies coincided with one of the most impactful[Read More...]

Why India needs a rural uprising

“Today, the villages are dung heaps. Tomorrow they will be like tiny gardens of Eden where dwell highly intelligent folk whom no one can deceive or exploit”. Mahatma Gandhi, writing in the Harijan in November 1946   Of all the dreams that Mahatma Gandhi projected for India’s future, none was shattered as cruelly as his wish to make it a[Read More...]

Rally against fascism and attacks on the rights of farmers under Modi held in Canada

On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI) held a demonstration to oppose growing state violence in India, on Sunday, September 27 in Surrey. Bhagat Singh was a towering revolutionary who fought against the British occupation of India and stood for an egalitarian and just society. He strongly believed in secularism and[Read More...]

Farm Bills: Media depicts opposition as unruly, toes government’s line

  The Farm Bills – which pave the way for private companies to buy farmers’ produce and go for contract-farming- have been vigorously opposed by the opposition parties and the farmers. While covering the issue, the mainstream media, particularly the Hindi press, not only largely ignored the concerns of the opposition parties but also pliantly toed the government’s line. Worse[Read More...]

New laws will steal food from the plates of Indian farmers

India is seeing multiple protests by its farmers, citizens and lawmakers. People are coming out on the streets as  they are no longer afraid of the pandemic, but are more threatened by the new laws that the Indian parliament is imposing on them. While the ruling party pleads that each of these laws are aimed at welfare of the people,[Read More...]

The tomato field

There is a tomato field that is sorrowful to the universe unable to lament though it doesn’t yet know that the farmer is dead.   The dust on the field grew wings in the wind and looking for its owner settled down across the river and the mountain valley.   The ripe tomatoes that incite the outer reaches of the[Read More...]
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Farmers Protest Across India Against Anti-Farmer Laws

Protests were held across the country today after the nationwide ‘Bharat Bandh’ call by farmer organisations against the Farm Bills. The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, have been passed by both Houses and await[Read More...]