Three farm bills — the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill (commonly referred to as the APMC Bypass Bill), and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill — were cleared by Parliament amid protests from the Opposition. Sudha Narayanan and Arindam Banerjee discuss the implications of the controversial Bills in a conversation moderated by Vikas Dhoot. Edited excerpts:
What are the concerns about these Bills? Do they hold up?
Sudha Narayanan: Sometimes we say, ‘Be careful what you wish for, you may actually get it’. These Bills represent fairly important changes in marketing regulation and are what many were asking for because of the flaws in the APMC [Agricultural Produce Market Committee] system. But at the same time, they are worrying for two…