Kavitha Kuruganti is associated with the Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), a nation-wide alliance of organisations working to improve farm livelihoods. In an exclusive interview with Ajit Kumar Jha, she explains why the new farm laws are anti-farmer.
What do you think about the three new farm laws passed by the NDA government?
These are statutes that were brought in undemocratically, in violation of the federal polity. They strip the little protection that is available for farmers in their market interfaces.
But the NDA government claims these laws increase the choices of farmers.
For marginalised farmers, there are really no choices, either before or after these Central Acts. Earlier farmers were benefiting indirectly with a well-functioning mandi system. The most sale was happening outside the mandi system. Now, on paper, farmers are free to sell wherever, whenever and to whomever, they please. In reality, most marginal farmers are entrapped into a...
