The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the two contentious farm bills by a voice vote which will enable farmers to sell outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and engage directly with agri-business firms. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Shiromani Akali Dal opposes both the bills while National Democratic Alliance (NDA) minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resign as a mark of protest against the agri bills. So are these bills pro-farmer, anti-farmer, pro-India, anti-India? Former agriculture secretary Siraj Hussain clarified.

For states where agriculture infrastructure is weak, this bill may help the farmers because more investments will be made in supply chain and in setting up of more warehouses. However, in certain states like Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh where the marketing system is very well developed and the state governments have invested huge amount of money, farmers feel that it is a step towards dismantling the minimum support price (MSP) regime, Hussain explained.

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