India’s Farming Protests: Who is to Blame?

By:Jaskaran Bajwa

In the nation of India, farmers have taken to the streets to protest the actions taken by the government in regards to farming regulations. This comes after a bill that was passed in September of 2020 which allowed private sector companies to buy directly from farmers.

This bill initially garnered attention, but nothing compared to the outrage that is occurring today. Prior to the passing of the bills, farmers were guaranteed a set price for their yield through government-imposed price floors. They would sell their yield via auction at their state’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee, also known as the “Mandi.” The bill would dismantle these committees and make it so that farmers would be able to sell directly to big sellers such as big-box grocery chains or enter into contracts with private companies. This bill was passed due to the monopoly held by the committees over the purchasing of crops and other farm goods. The process was, in essence becoming centralized by the committees, reducing competition and creating problematic monopolies.

These changes were hailed and praised by economists as being the step that India needed to take towards being a developed economy, but the farmer’s think otherwise. Many have stated that they believe they will be exploited by big companies and not receive the guaranteed prices they need in order to survive. Majhinder Singh Dhaliwal, a farm unionist, has stated, “We are fighting for our rights. We won’t rest until we reach the capital and force the government to abolish these black laws,” according to AlJazeera. Many have called this bill pro-corporation and anti-farmer, but the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, states otherwise. His party, the Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) have stated over and over again that they are pro-farmer and for the workers, but this bill signals otherwise. The BJP is the center-right to right-wing branch of Indian politics and has gained significant power in the country, so much so that they have become the largest political party by members in the world. Modi has stated, “The farmers should get the advantage of a big and comprehensive market which opens our country to global markets.” This type of privatization is not new for his party. They have spearheaded the privatization of many of India’s state-owned industries such as banks, but none of this scale.

The vast majority of protesters come from the states of Punjab and Haryana, both in the northern half of India. These states are along India’s wheat belt and produce the large majority of the nation’s wheat and major agricultural produce. These states are largely agricultural nations, and their economies depend on the prices they receive on their yields. These bills act as the nail in the coffins for many workers. In the past years, suicide rates of farmers have gone up due to the stress of not being able to provide for their families. Banks have claimed land that have been in the families of many farmers for generations, further increasing the rate of suicide.

The Modi government stands by their decision and hopes that the bill will introduce private sector investment for the agricultural industry, which has lagged behind other industries. These protests have gone down as the largest in recorded history. While farmers have been tear-gassed and hosed down by high-pressure cannons, they show no sign of backing down. Instead many of the protesters, who belong to the Sikh religion, have started to set up food services and give out food to both the attendees and the police officers who are attacking them. Many nations such as Canada, which houses a large Indian diaspora, have spoken out against the bill and many members of parliament from both Canada and the United Kingdom have voiced their concerns.

As of right now, these protests rage on and will continue. The farm bills will decimate many households which relied on the price floors to put food on the table, but will further modernize the economy of India. There seems to be no solution for this problem. Many critics have said that other jobs should have been introduced in the affected states before the privatization, while others say it was a necessary step. This unrest comes at a time when India enters its first recession in years and is facing the full brunt of Covid-19, but we will have to wait and see what impact this bill has on India and its struggling farmers.

As for the question of who is to blame, I believe that there is no true villain. Privatization is a step that if not taken now, will be taken later down the line. Farmers will struggle under the new system, but they were already suffering under the previous system. It is a tough situation, with no victors on either side, the farmers or the government.