The International Monetary Fund (IMF), while praising the farm laws on Thursday, said that the three laws can “represent a significant step forward” and complement the reforms in the agriculture sector. However, going further, the IMF also added that people who could be affected the most due to the transition to the new system should be adequately protected.
“We believe the farm bills do have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agricultural reforms in India,” IMF communications director Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington on Thursday, news agency PTI reported.
“The measures will enable farmers to directly contract with sellers, allow farmers to retain a greater share of the surplus by reducing the role of middlemen, enhance efficiency and support rural growth,” Mr Rice said.
“However, it is crucial that the social safety net adequately protects those who might be adversely impacted during the transition to this new system,” the IMF spokesperson said. He further added the protection can be provided by ensuring that the job market accommodates those that are impacted by the reforms.
Empty Stubbornness
Meanwhile, the agitating farmers in India, mainly from the states of Punjab and Haryana have made up their mind that the farm laws are against them and are being introduced only to support capitalists like Adani and Ambani.
However, despite Adani and Ambani’s clarification that they don’t deal in agricultural produce, the farmers, firm with their empty stubbornness, have been demanding the repletion of what they call black laws.
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In recent weeks, farmers and the government have come to the table multiple times to discuss the farm laws and find a way to end the agitation.
While the government in the meetings have provided options to discuss the laws’ clause-by-clause and also asked the farmers to give their suggestions to make the laws better, farmers, on the other hand, are not ready for any such discussion only prompting many to believe that the farmers themselves don’t know what is wrong with the laws.
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The ninth round of meeting between the farmers and the government is secluded to take place today.
