Three farm laws passed on the 21st of September 2020 in India, let farmers sell their produce to anywhere and anybody, essentially opening up the market, and apparently giving farmers more choice. However, closer inspection of these 3 laws reveals how even though they were framed as laws “in farmer’s interests”, they actually give rise to multiple loose ends and more room for farmers exploitation. This combined with the crony capitalism and distraction tactics employed by the government tells the grim story of the plight of India’s Farmers.
The laws as they stand so far, are concerned with the following; minimum price, essential commodities, and trade and commerce. This is apparently for the wellbeing of the farmers, which as portrayed by the ruling government and the national media gives farmers more freedom. In addition, contractual farming, a tenet of one of the bills that are being passed, is supposed to give farmers steady income for the farming seasons, which would then “better their lifestyles”. However, this is far from the truth. This makes the farmer’s current exploitation under existing rules more grim.
For starters, none of the bills talk about Minimum Support Price (MSP) which is a Government regulated set price for produce, reviewed every year before the harvest season. Under the previous situation, however, this was only applied to two crops; namely wheat and potato. The remaining MSPs are controlled by other middlemen. The MSP supports farmers and provides them with a steady source of income. The lack of MSP is truly outrageous and is rightly a demand of the farmers.
This, combined with the efforts to completely eradicate the APMSC (state-regulated middlemen who bought produce at the MSP), further aggravates the problem. This is also incentivized because any transaction that takes place outside the APMSC is subject to major tax breaks which incentivise farmers to sell their produce to private companies as it gives farmers more profits in the short term. However, it is logical to conclude that following this, corporate would have a complete takeover and monopoly over the market buying price. The lack of MSP gives farmers no “backup plan” and makes way for further exploitation of farmers in a country already rife with farmer suicides.
Additionally, the new bills remove all previously placed limits on storage. In accordance with the previous laws, there is usually a limit placed on the amount of grains/produce that can be stored; except in the case of national emergencies). Therefore, corporations with immense capital will have the capability of hoarding produce. This gives them immense power to control demand and supply, and therefore the power to control the price of produce in the market. This not only exploits the farmers at whose expense this was hoarded but also potentially exploits the common people who will be forced to buy and distribute these goods at extortionate prices.
Last, but not the least, is the topic of contractual farming. In this case, a farmer is in an agreement with a corporation that they would buy their produce at a particular price. However, more than often it is the case that corporations do not hold up their side of the bargain and dismiss farmer’s produce as not “matching quality protocols”. This was illustrated in the Pepsi-Co case, where the company had acquired adjacent land and forced farmers to sign a contract to grow potato and chilli, something that is an ingredient in their product. However, when the time came for the corporates to pay, they refused to do so because the product wasn’t of “good quality”. According to the new rules, the farmers had no choice but to raise it with the Sub-District Magistrate (SDM), who more than often sided with the corporates, as they did in this case. The SDM is part of the executive, and this prevents farmers from being able to appeal to the judiciary which puts smaller farmers at more risk and vulnerable to exploitation.
Fearing these repercussions, farmers in Punjab (who constitute a high percentage of the farming community in the country), started protesting against these brutal laws. This then culminated into a larger national protest in the form of a march to New Delhi on the 26th of November where thousands of farmers marched in and blocked five main entry points to Delhi. They were very quickly joined by other farmers from states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, with the total number of protestors at 2.5 million on the 13th of December, the 17th day of the protest. The numbers of farmers joining is increasing daily. The farmers were seen holding placards which said “The Modi govt is unscrupulous”, and other banners against corporates such as Facebook and Ambani. The Ambani family is the richest family in India and backs most of the BJP’s propaganda and sits to gain the most from the farmer’s laws. It also has a trade deal worth $5.7 billion with Facebook who took down a page which spread awareness and raised funds for the protest.
In addition, sectarian policies based on religious grounds, the construction of a new parliament, and the death of a celebrity, were all used as ruses to distract and detract people from the farmers strike protests. The protests have been heavily criticized by right-wing parties and have gone as far as labelling the farmers as terrorists. The left-wing parties in India have also failed to provide adequate support and come up with a resolution. However, it has been backed by all trade and workers unions and ten other political parties. Farmers have set camp on the spot with Langars, where members take turns to provide food for the community and have even made makeshift gurdwaras to further enhance community belonging. In support, other villages from Punjab have been sending in food to the protestors on the Delhi borders on a weekly basis, and additional farmers who chose to leave for the protests leave their lands behind which are cared for by other members of the family.
Despite the farmers combating the bitter cold for almost 2 months now, the government is still steadfast on its policies and insists that is for the “well-being of the farmers”. Only recently, a Bill was passed that the three farm laws would be suspended. Although, this is not enough and the farmers rightly demand the complete repeal of all three laws and a proper establishment of MSP. In recent news coverage by ScoopWhoop, one farmer was caught saying “Our gurus have taught us to embrace death before giving up hope on all aspects of life; we do not fear anything and will protest as long as is necessary” and another said, “we will protest for 2 months, 4 months or even 6 months if necessary, but the government will have to listen”. Recently, the 11th round of negotiations also yielded no result as the government stood steadfast on its policies. This makes it apprehensive that the farmers will be met by extreme police brutality because of interference with the parades on the 26th January, in lieu of celebrations on Republic Day. However, the determination and the sheer scale of these protests is truly inspiring and hopefully, their demands will be heard, the laws repealed and a resolution soon reached.