Agri reforms hold little hope for eastern farmers
The Hindu
Low procurement, low prices hurt eastern farmers and high PDS pose double burden
As the movement against the agricultural reform laws builds towards its one year anniversary, it is clear that the bulk of farmers in eastern Indian States have not been as motivated to join the agitation as their counterparts in the northwest, as they have not even experienced many of the benefits that the laws threaten to take away.
In fact, farmers in these States, with densely populated rural areas, bear the double burden of low procurement as well as low prices in the open market, partly because grains procured in the northern and western States are dumped into the eastern region at subsidised rates via the public distribution system (PDS), a situation exacerbated by additional free grain distribution as COVID-19 relief.
Experts and farm leaders say reforms are needed in both procurement as well as PDS, to allow for more effective decentralised procurement, which will benefit both farmers and consumers in the region.
A crowd comprising farmers, researchers, professors, students, and horticulture enthusiasts thronged the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru, on Friday for the inaugural ceremony of the Triphal Diversity Show which showcased 300 mango, 100 jackfruit, and 100 banana genotypes in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli.
The State government on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director-General of Police, Manish Kharbikar of the Economic Offences division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the alleged multi-crore scam in the government-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.