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The one sector that has seen a positive GDP throughout the lockdown and this pandemic is agriculture. And why not, because everything else is not as important as food in a crisis situation! So why are farmers protesting? In today’s news bulletin we discuss those bills passed by the government recently which has led to farmers' protests. We also look at the Tata group in the news for conflict negotiation and glance at the Babri Masjid demolition case. Check out these highlights now!
The 2 major issues that have plagued India consistently since independence? The question of privatisation and farmers' rights. India has long been an agrarian country. So much so that the existing system under which farmers sell their produce and the way trade of commodities works is a major revenue earner for various states. Meanwhile, it’s common knowledge that the average Indian farmer does not have many policies made just for him. In fact, the system has been disadvantageous to farmers in many ways. And yet, farmers across states are protesting. Why?
The bills — The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 (FPTC); The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 (FAPAFS); and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (ECA), that are generating the recent protests and debates have already been passed by the parliament and have also received the President’s assent. But state governments are not happy.
Amid protests by farmers’ organisations across the country, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Punjab have said they might not implement the new laws, Kerala and Punjab have declared their intention to challenge them in the Supreme Court, and a Congress MP from Kerala, Prathapan T N, has already done so. The government, on the other hand, claims that it is a historic step taken in the interest of farmers, giving them the freedom to sell their produce anywhere in the country and to anyone they want.
Public policy, business strategy, the history and the future of Indian trade and commerce, there’s a lot of talking points for this one. Let’s just understand the implications of these bills then. These findings then can be applied to form your own opinions, be they economic, political, or business-related.
Just like the fight against the licensing Raj in 1991, this act too claims to encourage privatisation and reduce the middlemen. The idea is to give farmers more control over their own produce. The fact is that many farmers do sell as they wish. The catch is that they have to pay a cess or dues to the various state organisations which regulate commodities, like the APMC. The APMC markets have a state-based monopoly on produce and price. And farmers have to follow the rules. This act seems to be a positive step towards liberalisation and giving freedom to farmers to be able to decide where to sell.
So why are there farmer protests? Mostly because farmers fear that liberalisation equals privatisation. They fear that corporates will take over and change the system to benefit themselves. Farmers across various states feel that they don’t have the ability to deal with corporates and fear that they will not get the freedom to sell, but just be changing masters. The state governments of course find these bills harmful and detrimental to their state revenues!
In the background, there are nuances of economic, political, and socialist ideologies There’s a debate on whether the Government’s conduct is taking India towards a federal state based ideology. Amidst all of this is the promise of helping farmers lead a better life with more opportunities. What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Also read a corporate perspective on these bills here.
The Tata group has reached out to several investors, including sovereign wealth funds, to raise funds to buy out the Mistry family’s stake in Tata Sons Ltd. N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, is leading the talks with potential investors, the success of which will determine whether the bitter feud between the Tata group and its biggest minority shareholder, the Mistry family, ends. All of this paints a picture of how business decisions can go wrong and how to resolve such crises.
The Supreme Court on November 2019, settled the seven-decade-long Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute with the historic verdict of awarding a Hindu group the ownership of a centuries-old religious site. It ordered the allotment of an alternative piece of five acres of land to the Muslims for a mosque. A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Lucknow on Wednesday acquitted all the 32 accused in the Babri Masjid Demolition case nearly 28 years after the mosque was razed by a mob in Uttar Pradesh. It’s interesting to observe how this case progresses and how different stakeholders managed it. Read the timeline to understand!