This week, a massive farmer protest is underway in New Delhi, with protests across the nation. An estimated 300,000 farmers are in the capital. The focus of their action is three farm laws from months ago, aimed at deregulating agriculture into the “free market” mode favoring transnational, corporate control. Following the failure of the fourth round of marathon talks yesterday with the Modi government in New Delhi, leaders of protesting farmers have demanded a special session of Parliament to repeal the new farm laws, and threatened to block other roads of the national capital if their demands are not met. “If government does not fulfill our demands, we will have to take more steps,” said farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni addressing a press conference in Delhi, Times of India reported today. Both sides, however, have agreed to meet on Dec. 5 to prolong their talks. Meanwhile, a number of state governments not ruled by the national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), expressing their displeasure at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to boost the economy, have lent support to the farmers.
As of this writing, tens of thousands of farmers are waiting patiently with their tractors and trailers at road entries to New Delhi. Most of these farmers came from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The farmers have partially blocked the roads, slowing regular traffic coming into the capital. No report of violence has emerged yet, though video footage shows authorities using water cannons to control the farmers’ routes.
For decades, discontent has been brewing in India’s farmlands. The recent outburst by the farmers, however, has its source in the Modi government promulgating three ordinances last June relating to agricultural marketing. Subsequently, the administration rammed through these ordinances in the Parliament and transformed those into legislative bills without adequately discussing the ramifications of these bills.
Briefly speaking, one bill relaxes restrictions governing purchase and sale of farm produce, the second relaxes restrictions on stocking of farm produce under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955, and the third introduces a dedicated legislative measure to enable contract farming based on written agreements. Previous laws typically mandated that purchase of certain “notified” agricultural commodities (mostly grains) be through government-regulated markets (mandis) with the payment of designated commissions and marketing fees. Traders and intermediaries (commission agents) typically require a license to operate in these mandis.
