Farmers free to sell crop to anyone, anywhere
The newly tabled farm bills have become a matter of debate and paranoia among all concerned stakeholders in the Indian agriculture sector. There have been a variety of reasons given by those opposed to the landmark changes in the agriculture sector. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s official Twitter handle has been working overtime to dispel misinformation that the bills are anti-farmer and that large corporations will take over the agriculture sector and farmers lands.
It reiterated via Twitter that there will be no changes to the minimum selling price (MSP) and that the Mandi system will continue as before. The message to farmers included in no uncertain terms that ‘Farmers will be free to sell their crop to anyone, anywhere under the One Nation One Market model’.
Sanjay Kumar, CEO & MD, Elior India opined, “The farm bill is a much-needed reform for the agriculture sector for dismantling the stranglehold of middlemen. There is no reason for the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) to have a geographical monopoly as it intrinsically creates a distorted supply-demand balance. The key objectives of the farm bill can be met if and only if India embarks on steering itself away from being a welfare state to being a nation driven towards enhancing productivity”.
