Agriculture, often hailed as the “heart and soul of India” is the primary source of income for approximately 58% of Indians. It also remains one of the least modernized sectors since the Green Revolution, dating back to the mid 20th century. In the 1960s, the Indian government introduced subsidies to boost crop yields for farmers. In the next few years, subsidies and increasing land prices began widening the gap between the wealthy and the rich farmers.
In an attempt to stabilize the Indian economy, the government began offering guaranteed prices to Indian farmers for specific crops with restrictions on who the farmers could sell to. These minimum prices gave many farmers the security needed to continue managing their farms and livelihoods.
However, this all changed in September 2020, when the Modi government passed 3 bills: The Farmers Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, The Farmers' Produce Trade & Commerce Act, and The Essential Commodities Act. These laws gave farmers the right to sell to anyone at any price. While the government stated its reason for passing the laws was to help the agricultural industry, many farmers believed it would hurt their livelihoods, especially if many bigger companies would drive down prices. Not all small farmers would then be able to compete with the lower prices offered by India’s agricultural giants. Modi and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) remained firm in their belief that the increased competition and economic freedoms would be beneficial to the farmers, serving to not only “unshackle our farmers but also given them new rights and opportunities."
Since then, farmers have taken to the streets in hordes, protesting the three laws. Images of marches and tractor parades have been widely shared, tweeted, and posted on social media. Even singer Rihanna tweeted about the ordeal, asking why more people were not discussing the protesting farmers. The issue is a controversial one, and even Indians are divided among the matter, evident in actress Kangana Ranaut’s heated reply to Rihanna “No one is talking about it because they are not farmers they are terrorists who are trying to divide India.”
Unfortunately, the matter does not seem to be resolving itself. In mid January the Supreme Court suspended the three laws temporarily and has announced its support behind a negotiation with the farmers and farmer unions to come to a fair agreement. Yet farmers remain unappeased, and refuse to stop the protests until the laws are completely repealed.
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