Farmers Right to Protest
indianexpress.com
indianexpress.com
- farmers may grow certain crops...
- ...that india doesn't need or want (it has surplus in storage)...
- ...and the government is obliged to pay the farmers higher than market rates (MSP = minimum support price) for doing so.
It's unfortunate that farmers have gotten acclimated to this market distortion... but it's simply not sustainable for a poor country like India. India needs a strong food export sector, and in order for that to happen, India's farmers need a non-distorted view of market-demand.
Which people? Those who've never entered a agricultural land and will never do so. If there are so supportive - will they pickup agriculture as their fulltime profession?
This may sound like an outrageous propaganda to those not familiar with current indian politics, but is a sad but true fact.
A good example of this is the Rs. 1.5 million suit that our Prime Minister got as a "gift" (that had his name embroidered all over the suit with gold). When he wore it meet Obama, he was criticised for his extravagance and faced accusations of bribery and corruption. To stem off the criticisms, he auctioned it off and claimed all the money had been donated to some charity.
Guess who were forced to bid for his suit's auctions, and buy it? Rich businessmen with huge tax issues:
Hitesh Patel: Diamond millionaire - Bid $690,000 (His firm had been raided by revenue intelligence officers for evading import duty.)
Mukesh Patel: Diamond trader - Bid $320,000 (His firm - M Kantilal and Company - was accused of 1.55bn rupees ($24.9m; £16.19m) tax evasion.)
Lavji Badshah: Entrepreneur - Bid $290,000 (A year before ... about 100 tax officials had raided Mr Badshah's offices.
Kamal Kant Sharma: Entrepreneur - Bid $225,000 (Mr Sharma's company was raided by tax authorities in 2012.)