Will Government Roll Back Farm Laws?
After two days of face-offs, the authorities allowed protesting farmers, some of whom threw stones and broke barricade, to enter Delhi under police escort to stage a demonstration against agricultural reforms they fear will leave them at the mercy of big corporations. The police had deployed hundreds of personnel at different entry points to the national capital, parking trucks full of sand and laying barbed wire to block the farmers' path. The farmers have been upset with the laws passed earlier this year which mean they are now free to sell their produce to anyone at any price, instead of to state-controlled markets at assured rates. They say the new laws deregulating the vast agriculture sector will leave small growers vulnerable to corporate agri-businesses and could lead to a withdrawal of price supports for staples like wheat and rice. On The Big Fight, we ask: will the government roll back the farm laws?
