‘Fear of price fluctuation, distrust behind protests against farm laws’

Sukhpal Singh is professor and former chairperson, Centre for Management in Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedaba

“It is more about the changes in the ‘social contract’ between the farmers and the Union government that is the root cause of fear,” said Sukhpal Singh, professor and former chairperson, Centre for Management in Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, on why farmers from Punjab and Haryana, among others, are protesting the three new farms laws passed by India’s Parliament. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (FPTC), the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (FAPAFS) were passed during the monsoon session of parliament during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of farmers are at the outskirts of the national capital as they march to Delhi to demand the repeal of these laws. One of the reasons farmer protest is because they think that they were not consulted before making these far-reaching changes and that the central government is governing issues that are under the states’ domain, said Singh.

Farmers think these laws may affect the procurement of foodgrains under the minimum support price (MSP), which guarantees a minimum price for some of the agricultural produce bought by the government, Singh said. The government procures large quantities from Punjab and Haryana. But making MSP a ‘legal right’ isn’t the solution, according to Singh. Such a law will “kill” the agricultural market in a state because if private buyers are mandated to buy at a government-set MSP, they might look for cheaper costs elsewhere, Singh explained…

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