The word "Bharat Bandh" has been almost eradicated by the political parties, ... until the BJP started privatisation
The word "Bharat Bandh" has been almost eradicated by the political parties, ... until the BJP started privatisation
In September 2020 the Indian government passed three new agricultural bills, sometimes referred to as the farm reforms. These are:
How Was Agricultural Trading Regulated Before The Legal Reforms?
Until now, farmers have been protected from the harsh climate of the free market by rules around selling, pricing and stockpiling produce. For example, there's the mandi system: mandis are agricultural markets where farmers go to trade. Mandis are controlled by the government and there are fixed minimum prices.
Farmers have always been able to rely on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) set by the government, whatever the changing supply and demand. Even if there's an excess of barley on the market in a particular year, for example, farmers know that they can still sell their barley harvest for the MSP. Another year, perhaps they'll sell it for more. But whatever happens, the MSP is a form of security. They will always be able to get something for it, and won't be left with fields full of rotting crops that they can't sell.
Modi has said that the agricultural reforms will help empower farmers, cutting out the middle men - such as the agents at mandis - and allowing small farmers to sell directly to retailers. He claims that under the new system farmers will have more freedom and the opportunity to make more profit.
What's The Problem?
The government claims that these laws will make it easier for farmers to sell their produce to large companies, but critics - and tens of thousands of farmers - say that the opposite is true: instead, the laws are a "death warrant" for farmers, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations.
Technically, the government claims are true: farmers will be free to sell outside the government-controlled mandis, for example, and negotiate with buyers directly. In a few years, perhaps the mandis will have ceased to exist altogether. But that will leave farmers at the mercy of private companies; in effect, these companies will be setting the new food prices.
If there's a negotiation between a huge corporation and a farmer who's already struggling to get by, who's more likely to win?
The government says that the Minimum Support Prices will remain in place, but farmers fear that the new laws mean that they will soon be eroded, leaving them with no financial security. During lockdown many farmers were already forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices, below the MSP.
And now that traders can stockpile food, they will be able to take advantage of market prices: buying in bulk when things are cheap, then selling for a huge profit when prices are higher. That may be good for the traders, but it spells disaster for farmers.
How many people are affected?
More than 40% of the population in India works in agriculture - that means that hundreds of millions of people will be impacted by these laws. And 86% are smale-scale farmers, owning less than five acres of land. Individually, they have very little bargaining power. That's why they're acting collectively, and why tens of thousands of farmers are currently out on the streets in northern India in protest.
Critics claim that the agricultural reforms are another part of the government's drive towards privatisation, which is likely to increase inequality: more profits for large corporations, more hardship for people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
