“Potential To Increase Farmers’ Income” In Farm Laws: IMF Chief Economist

IMF’s chief economist says the new farm laws will increase farmers’ income.

Gita Gopinath the Economist Chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the agricultural laws that are recently enacted in the country have the potential to increase the income of the farmers but there is also a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators in the agriculture sector. Ms Gopinath also said that the Indian agriculture is in need of some reforms. On Tuesday, IMF, the Washington based global financial institution’s Chief Economist said that there are reforms needed in multiple areas of the Indian agriculture sector which includes infrastructure.

In response to a question on the three new farm laws enacted by the government last year Me Gopinath said “These particular farm laws were in the area of marketing. It was widening the market for farmers. Being able to sell to multiple outlets besides the mandis without having to pay tax. And this had the potential to raise, in our view, the farmers’ income.

In September earlier the center had enacted three farm laws and projected as a major reform of the agricultural sector that will remove the middlemen and allow the farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country. Since November 28 last year thousands of farmers mainly from the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are camping at several border points of Delhi demanding the repeal of the three farm laws and a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.

The government and the 41 farmer union leaders jointly known as the Samyukth Kisan Morcha have been holding multiple rounds of talks and so far there have been eleven rounds of talk, both the sides have been firmly standing on their positions. In the last round of talks the government offered to suspend the law for 1-1.5 years and to find a solution to the problem it suggested to form a joint committee. However the farmer leaders said that they would not settle for anything less than the repeal of the laws and guarantee on MSP.