Topic: MSP

After sixth round of negotiations Wednesday, Centre and farm unions reach some consensus but remain deadlocked over demand to repeal the 3 laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.

Govt has agreed to exclude farmers from penal provisions of the Air Quality Management ordinance and to not pursue the draft Electricity Bill 2020. 

In a three-page letter, the govt asked farmers to give a date and time for the next discussion. The previous five rounds of talks have failed to break the deadlock with the cultivators.

Campus Voice is an initiative by ThePrint where young Indians get an opportunity to express their opinions on a prevalent issue.

Sompal Shastri has told Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar that farmers' trust in govt has diminished as incomes have constantly dropped, and that's why they are protesting.

Agriculture Minister Tomar also asserted that the new farm laws are beneficial for farmers & the govt is ready to give a written assurance that MSP & mandi system will continue.

Researchers associated with Pennsylvania University’s India study centre looked at agricultural markets of Bihar, Odisha and Punjab. They found that intermediaries are a rational response to the dominant structure of Indian farming.

The central government, on 9 December, had sent a written proposal to the farmers offering amendments to the three farm laws.

BJP leaders claim farmers are ‘changing goalposts’ with their demands, making it difficult for the government to end the deadlock.

With measures like MSP, India has been carefully treading the thin line between food and livelihood security and practices classified as 'trade distorting' under the WTO law.