The current farmer agitation is one of the major protests.  It is an unprecedented protest which includes the participation of 12 million farmers and 14 million truck drivers.

It is a matter of great public concern that many rounds of talks and the seize around the nations capital borders have remained inconclusive.   Many national celebrities from various fields have decided to return their state honours in a show of solidarity with the agitating farmers. The farmers fear that the gains of the new farm laws would not percolate down to them.  And have expressed fears they may lose their negotiating power to the large corporates. 

 By pushing these laws in haste, the Government has lost out on the virtues of consensus.  It could have ensured the acceptance of its policies had it addressed the angst of the farmers.

The central Government claims that farmers will have unfettered freedom to sell their produce at higher prices in any market in India hereafter under the new legislation but the farmers fear of corporates dictating procurement terms is not altogether unfounded. With the dismantling of APMC Mandi’s and the government having no power to keep a watchful eye on the deals being struck between farmers and traders, there seems to be a greater possibility of farmers being exploited by the heavy cartelised corporate giants. Also, state governments stand to lose the revenue from the APMCs which fund the various farmers-related Welfare measures. The farmers proved that they cannot be fooled easily. And that they are aware of the nexus between the government and these corporates. Farmers feel that the major benefactors of these farm bills will Adani and Ambani's, who are known to be quite friendly with Prime Minister Modi and the ruling dispensation.  Adani, for that matter, is an expert in using political connections for business advantages. He also did that in Australia in ways that made the public put up placards saying “stop Adani.” India is different since Modi came to power. Adani's net worth increased 121% per cent to more than $26 billion by getting government tenders to build infrastructure projects.

The unloved question here is how to ensure that the reforms do not lead to monopoly or cartelisation. Equally important is the issue of federalism as Agriculture as such, is a state subject. The states play a crucial role in this sector, but they have been scarcely involved in the passing of agriculture laws.

Farmers have always borne the brunt of the natural calamities like floods, drought. And they labour endlessly in inclement weather. It's a pity that these annadatas themselves have to sit on roads to get their voice heard.  

According to the Global Hunger Index 2020, India ranks 94th among 107 countries, in terms of hunger and continues to be in the “severe” hunger category. This index is also an indicator of the poor human development of the country. Now, India is behind most of its south-Asian neighbours, including Bangladesh. Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan ranked 75, 78, 88 respectively, are also in the same category but are above India. Nepal ranked 73rd and Srilanka 64th are better off and are in “moderate” hunger category.

Many factors contribute to India’s “severe” hunger and the other hand the collective net worth of half of nation’s 100 richest people on 2020 Forbes India Rich list saw a rise of 14%. Sensex, an Index Of 30 companies actively trading on Bombay Stock Exchange, used to observe “the overall growth, Development Of particular industries, ups and downs of the Indian Economy closed at 38,673 points on March 31st 2018. One needs to consider all these, along with data released with the National Statistical Office, which shows that the Economic growth slumped to 11year low of 4.2 per cent in 2019-20. One school of thought holds that the rise in wealth-despite Corona -inflicted downturn-was partly due to the cut in corporate taxes from 35% to 25% last year. If you see the GHI, India is just better than Afghanistan among all south-Asian neighbours. Instead Of concentrating on religion, etc. Our policymakers need to wake to the reality of the situation and adopt a convergent approach to tackle this problem faced by our country.

The problem of hunger both in urban and rural areas should be tackled differently, as numerous factors contribute to this” severe” hunger status. There is a lack of stable employment, due to frequent migration, many have not registered with the system and hence do not receive the required benefits, not to forget the poor public distribution system. It’s advisable to have an autonomous PDS based on community-led procurement and storage. There is also a need to hold negotiations between centre and states on food and nutrition security measures and India needs to reevaluate its economic reform strategy and consider course correction to feed the hungry and create opportunities for gainful employment.