Farm Laws Are Crucial Those Affected Must Be Safeguarded: IMF

The new farm laws have significant impact and those under its effect must be protected.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the new farm laws which were introduced recently have a ‘potential to represent a significant step forward’ to introduce various reforms in the sector of agriculture. People who could be affected the most due to the new changes should be protected adequately, said the international body. The IMF comments came on the day when the two sides are scheduled to meet today for the ninth time to resolve the issue and find a solution to the farmers’ problems. The farmers’ only demand in the whole situation is a complete withdrawal of the new acts and nothing less than that is acceptable to them.

IMF’s communications director Gerry Rice spoke to the reporters in Washing on Thursday where he stated “We believe that the farm bills have the potential to represent a significant step forward for agriculture reforms in India.” He added “The measures will enable farmers to directly contract with sellers, allow farmers to retain a greater share of the surplus by reducing the role of a middleman, enhance efficiency and support rural growth.

The spokesperson of IMF said “However, it is crucial that the social safety net adequately protects those who might be adversely affected during the transition to this new system” and added all this could be done by making sure that the job market could accommodate all those who are impacted by the reforms.

Farmers from all over the country but mostly from the states of Haryana and Punjab have gathered in the borders of Delhi and have been camping for over 50 days now with a demand for a complete roll back of the new farm laws which the center introduced in the month of September last year. The farmers also demand a legal guarantee for their crops by providing them a Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The government has readily agreed to discuss the laws clause by clause and also assured them to make amendments to the new farm laws but the farmers say they will not settle for anything other than repealing the laws. The protesting farmers have declared to organize a tractor rally in the national capital on January 26 which happens to also be the Republic Day of the country and the government has asked the Supreme Court to stop the rally as it will cause harm to the image of the country on an important day.