On COVID relief packages
Allow #mgnrega for all farm work in fields of marginal & small farmers for 1 yr
Allow #mgnrega for all farm work in fields of marginal & small farmers for 1 yr
The pandemic has deepened the farm crisis and the stimulus pales into insignificance when compared to inexorable disenfranchisement of the farmer.
The barrage of negative farm sector news highlights policy mess extenuating the imponderables around livelihoods in this space where even suicides are not correctly counted.
Farmer unions must understand the wider implications of all policies and widen the horizon of their arguments vis-a-vis farmer rights and policy wrongs.
Farmer unions have confined themselves to issues that resonate with farmers but missing the big picture around genuine transformation of rural livelihood across India.
The policy-making regime seems to be keen to make the grim prognostications around the impact of climate change come true.
Only a sustained and successful awareness campaign to reduce wastage of food and change consumer behaviour can prevent the climate change prophecies from coming true.
The Indian downturn is underscored by a more-than-expected slump in agriculture exports and farmgate prices, lagging food-processing and poor human resources.