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  • Implications of UP’s ‘love jihad’ ordinance for freedom of conscience

    op-ed snap | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    The U.P. government’s ordinance seeking the prevention of illegal conversion has several provisions that go against the Constitution and restricts the freedom of conscience. 

    Objective of the ordinance

    • The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 seeks to prevent “love jihad” in the state
    • The ordinance makes it a criminal offence for a person to convert another by coercion, misrepresentation, fraud etc, which is unobjectionable.
    • A marriage solemnised for the “sole purpose” of unlawfully converting the bride or the groom is required to be declared void by the competent court.
    • There can be no objection to ordinance’s premise that converting somebody by fraud or misrepresentation is wrong.
    • In fact, though the members of the Constituent Assembly included the right to “propagate” one’s religion they considered it a “rather obvious doctrine” that this would not include forcible conversions.
    • However, the UP ordinance goes beyond this principle and does something quite strange.

    Unconstitutional provisions and issues with the ordinance

    1) Lack of clarity

    • The ordinance makes it a criminal offence to convert a person by offering her an “allurement”.
    • The term “allurement” is defined very broadly, to include even providing a gift to the person who is sought to be converted.
    • The use of the words “or otherwise” in the definition of allurement is puzzling.
    • The essential prerequisite of a criminal law is that it has to be precise.
    • A person cannot be put behind bars for doing something that a penal law does not clearly and unequivocally prohibit.
    • On this touchstone, the definition of “allurement” leaves much to be desired.

    2) Reconversion to a person’s previous religion is not illegal

    • It says that “reconversion” to a person’s previous religion is not illegal, even if it is vitiated by fraud, force, allurement, misrepresentation and so on.
    • In other words, if a person converts from Religion A to Religion B of her own volition, and is then forced to reconvert back to Religion A against her will, this will not constitute “conversion” under the ordinance at all.

    3) Unfairly treating all women in the same way

    • Illegal conversion under the ordinance attracts a punishment of 1-5 years in prison.
    • However, if the victim of the illegal conversion is a minor, a member of the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or, strangely, a woman, the punishment is doubled — at 2-10 years behind bars.
    • In other words, it does not matter who the woman is, if somebody converts her against her will, the punishment can go up to 10 years in prison.
    • The ordinance unfairly paints all women with the same brush — assuming that all women are gullible, vulnerable and especially susceptible to illegal conversion.

    4) Buden of proof

    • The burden of proof in criminal cases is on the prosecution, and the presumption is that a person accused of committing an offence is innocent until proven guilty.
    • The Uttar Pradesh ordinance turns this rule on its head.
    • Every religious conversion is presumed to be illegal.
    • The burden is on the person carrying out the conversion to prove that it is not illegal.
    • The offence of illegal conversion is also “cognisable” and “non-bailable”, meaning that a police officer can arrest an accused without a warrant, and the accused may or may not be released on bail, at the discretion of the court.

    Time to revisit the past judgement

    • In Rev Stainislaus v State of Madhya Pradesh (1977), the Supreme Court held that the fundamental right to “propagate” religion does not include the right to convert a person to another religion.
    • In that case, the court had upheld anti-conversion statutes enacted by the states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

    Conclusion

    The ordinance puts an incredible chilling effect on the freedom of conscience and state must reconsider it.

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  • Antibiotics Resistance

    Looming heath crisis in the form of antimicrobial resistance

    op-ed snap | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Rapidly rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses the threat of the next health crisis if not addressed with urgency. The article examines the severity of the issue.

    The severity of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

    • Globally, about 35% of common human infections have become resistant to available medicines.
    • About 700,000 people die every year because available antimicrobial drugs — antibiotics, antivirals, antiparasitic and antifungals — have become less effective at combating pathogens.
    • Resistance to second- and third-line antibiotics — the last lines of defence against some common diseases — are projected to almost double between 2005 and 2030.
    • In India, the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, this is a serious problem.

    Responsible factors

    •  Microorganisms develop resistance to antimicrobial agents as a natural defence mechanism.
    • Human activity has significantly accelerated the process.
    • The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials for humans.
    • Livestock and agriculture but other factors also contribute.

    Research points  to role of environment and pollution

    • Once consumed, up to 80% of antibiotic drugs are excreted un-metabolised, along with resistant bacteria.
    • Their release in effluents from households and health and pharmaceutical facilities, and agricultural run-off, is propagating resistant microorganisms.
    • Wastewater treatment facilities are unable to remove all antibiotics and resistant bacteria.
    • In India, there is capacity to treat only about 37% of the sewage generated annually.
    • Water, then, may be a major mode for the spread of AMR, especially in places with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.
    • Wildlife that comes into contact with discharge containing antimicrobials can also become colonised with drug-resistant organisms.

    Initiative to tackle the AMR

    • The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) identified antimicrobial resistance as one of six emerging issues of environmental concern in its 2017 Frontiers Report.
    • UN agencies are working together to develop the One Health AMR Global Action Plan (GAP) that addresses the issue in human, animal, and plant health and food and environment sectors.
    • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) issued draft standards which set limits for residues of 121 antibiotics in treated effluents from drug production units.
    • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and MoEF&CC constituted the inter-ministerial Steering Committee on Environment and Health, with representation from WHO and UNEP.

    Way forward

    • The Centre and State governments in India can strengthen the environmental dimensions of their plans to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
    • It is important to promote measures that address known hotspots such as hospitals and manufacturing and waste treatment facilities.

    Consider the question “Being the largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, India faces a grave threat from growing anti-microbial resistance. What are the factors responsible for it? Suggest the ways to deal with it.”

    Conclusion

    We saw how quickly a pandemic can spread if we are not ready. This is an opportunity to get ahead of the next one.

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  • Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

    Representation of Women in Judiciary

    Prelims Only | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

    Attorney-General has told the Supreme Court that more women judges in constitutional courts would certainly improve gender sensitivity in the judiciary.

    Q.Women judges could bring a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective of gender sensitivity in the judiciary. Discuss.

    Women in Judiciary: A dismal figure

    • The Supreme Court has only two women judges as against a sanctioned strength of 34 judges.
    • There has never been a female Chief Justice. This figure is consistently low across the higher judiciary.
    • There are only 80 women judges out of the sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
    • Only two of these 80 women judges are in the Supreme Court and the other 78 are in various High Courts, comprising only 7.2% of the number of judges.
    • There are six High Courts — Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand — where there are no sitting women judges.

    A short timeline

    • The first female Judge appointed in Supreme Court was Justice M. Fathima Beevi from Kerala in 1987.
    • She was later followed by Justice Sujata V. Manohar from Maharashtra in 1994 and in the year 2000, Justice Ruma Pal was appointed from West Bengal.
    • And in the year 2010, Justice Gyan Sudha Misra from Bihar was appointed.
    • In 2014, Justice Ranjana Desai from Mumbai was appointed and currently, Justice R. Banumathi from Tamil Nadu is the only woman judge in Supreme Court.

    (Note: This data might be useful for State PSCs or other exams. UPSC aspirants need not remember this.)

    What did the A-G say?

    • Improving the representation of women could go a long way towards a more balanced and empathetic approach in cases involving sexual violence.
    • Judges need to be trained to place themselves in the shoes of the victim of sexual violence while passing orders, said the AG.
    • There is a dearth of compulsory courses in gender sensitization in law schools.
    • Certain law schools have the subject either as a specialization or as an elective.

    Why need more women in Judiciary?

    • The entry of women judges into spaces from which they had historically been excluded has been a positive step in the direction of judiciaries being perceived as being more transparent, inclusive, and representative.
    • By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
    • They could contribute far more to justice than improving its appearance: they also contribute significantly to the quality of decision-making, and thus to the quality of justice itself.
    • Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
    • By elucidating how laws and rulings can be based on gender stereotypes, or how they might have a different impact on women and men, a gender perspective enhances the fairness of the adjudication.

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  • Women Safety Issues – Marital Rape, Domestic Violence, Swadhar, Nirbhaya Fund, etc.

    Right to Marriage is a Fundamental Right

    | | Mains Paper 1: Communalism, Secularism, Regionalism

    An individual’s right to marry a person of his or her choice is a fundamental right that cannot be denied on the basis of caste or religion by anybody, re-iterated the Karnataka High Court.

    Discuss the various ethical and rights issues involved in interfaith marriages.

    Right to Marriage

    • The right to marry is a part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution.
    • The right to marriage is also stated under Human Rights Charter within the meaning of the right to start a family.
    • The right to marry is a universal right and it is available to everyone irrespective of their gender.
    • Various courts across the country have also interpreted the right to marry as an integral part of the right to life under Article 21.
    • A forced marriage is illegal in different personal laws on marriage in India, with the right to marry recognized under the Hindu laws as well as Muslim laws.

    Other laws that lay down a person’s right to marry in India are:

    1. The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
    2. The Guardians and Wards Act, 1890
    3. The Majority Act, 1875
    4. The Family Courts Act, 1984
    5. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005

    Back2Basics: Scope of Article 21

    • Article 21, considered the heart and soul of the Constitution, states, ‘No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.

    It has a much more profound meaning that signifies the:

    • Right to live with human dignity
    • Right to livelihood
    • Right to health
    • Right to pollution-free air
    • Right to live a quality life
    • Right to go abroad
    • Right to privacy
    • Right against delayed execution,

    And anything and everything that fulfils the criteria for a dignified life.

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  • Horticulture, Floriculture, Commercial crops, Bamboo Production – MIDH, NFSM-CC, etc.

    Honey Adulteration in India

    | Science Tech | : Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    10 out of 13 popular honey brands failed a key test of purity, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed in an investigation.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following kinds of organisms:

    1. Bat
    2. Bee
    3. Bird

    Which of the above is/are pollinating agent/agents?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Adulteration in honey

    • The CSE has resorted to the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) testing to ascertain the composition of a product at the molecular level.
    • The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locally but is needed for export.
    • Current regulations specify around 18 parameters that honey must comply with for producers to label it ‘pure honey.
    • Among the tests employed as per Indian regulations is one to check whether the honey is adulterated with C4 sugar (cane sugar) or C3 sugar (rice sugar).
    • Most samples cleared these tests but failed another test called the Trace Marker for Rice test, to test for rice syrup adulteration.

    Significance of the CSE study

    • Adulteration of honey is a global problem with several countries, including India, devising regulations and new tests to check it.
    • It also destroys the livelihoods of bee-keepers who found it unprofitable to make pure honey because sugar-syrup honey was often available at half the price.
    • Some Indian companies in the honey business were importing synthetic sugar syrups from China to adulterate honey.
    • This shows how the business of adulteration has evolved so that it can pass the stipulated tests in India.

    Back2Basics: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)

    • NMR spectroscopy is a crucial analytical tool for organic chemists.
    • It is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a frequency characteristic of the magnetic field at the nucleus.
    • It is widely used to determine the structure of organic molecules in solution and study molecular physics and crystals as well as non-crystalline materials.
    • It is also routinely used in advanced medical imaging techniques, such as in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

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  • Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

    Jadav Payeng: The Forest Man of India

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    Jadav Payeng, known as ‘The Forest Man of India’, takes us through his journey of grit that saw a desert turning into a forest. His story is been depicted through an upcoming trilingual film.

    We knew about the mountain man in India. We have also had the Forest Man of India who is also a living inspiration for successful afforestation. We can quote such examples in essays very well.

    Who is Jadav Payeng?

    • Jadav “Molai” Payeng (born 1963) is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli Island popularly known as the Forest Man of India.
    • He was born in the indigenous Mising tribe of Assam.
    • Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve.
    • The forest, called Molai forest after him is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India and encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares.
    • In 2015, he was honoured with Padmashri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.

    His work

    • The forest, which came to be known as Molai forest, now houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, and over 100 deer and rabbits.
    • Molai forest is also home to elephants and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures.
    • Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares.

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  • Digital India Initiatives

    [pib] E-Sanjeevani Telemedicine Service

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    In a landmark achievement, eSanjeevani, Health Ministry’s national telemedicine initiative today completed 9 lakh consultations.

    Although telemedicine brings with it many benefits, there are some downsides to it as well. Discuss.

    What is E-Sanjeevani?

    • Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched two variants of eSanjeevani namely – doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) in the hub and spoke model and patient to doctor (eSanjeevaniOPD).
    • E-Sanjeevani OPD (out-patient department) is a telemedicine variant for the public to seek health services remotely; it was rolled out on 13th of April 2020 during the first lockdown in the country.
    • It enables virtual meetings between the patients and doctors & specialists from geographically dispersed locations, through video conferencing that occurs in real-time.
    • At the end of these remote consultations, eSanjeevani generates electronic prescriptions which can be used for sourcing medicines.
    • Andhra Pradesh was the first state to roll out eSanjeevani AB-HWC services in November 2019.

    Benefits of telemedicine

    Telemedicine benefits patients in the following ways:

    • Transportation: Patients can avoid spending gas money or wasting time in traffic with video consultations.
    • No missing work: Today, individuals can schedule a consultation during a work break or even after work hours.
    • Childcare/Eldercare Challenges: Those who struggle to find care options can use telemedicine solutions.

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  • Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

    Premature membership of RCEP would not serve Indian interests

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth,Indian Economy

    The article analyses government’s decision to stay out of RCEP and factors responsible for it.

    What India chose not to join RCEP

    • By joining RCEP, India would have further risked a flood of cheap Chinese imports in sectors like electronics.
    • India had tried and failed to win substantial concessions in areas like work visas for its information technology-enabled services.
    • Two of India’s proposals—an RCEP business travel card and an RCEP service supplier card—failed to find favour with a majority of the bloc’s members.

    Arguments in favour of India joining the RCEP

    •  First argument made is RCEP would have provided an excellent opportunity for Indian firms to get integrated with regional value chains.
    • However, merely joining a trade bloc does not automatically result in integration with global value chains.
    • The complex nature of global production networks requires a lot of economic and trade policy reforms on the domestic front.
    • Second important argument made is that India would lose an opportunity to access RCEP’s common market.
    • But this argument too doesn’t hold much water if Indian producers are not competitive.
    • Competitiveness is driven by factors both within and beyond the control of domestic industry.
    • So it would be an over-simplification to assume that Indian industry does not have the capability or appetite to be competitive.
    • Often, global competitiveness inside factory gates gets diluted by costs borne outside those gates.

    What past data suggests

    • India’s merchandise exports grew at an annual rate of more than 18% between 2000-01 and 2010-11, which was largely a pre-FTA period.
    • In this period, India activated only two FTAs—with Sri Lanka and Singapore.
    • India joined the FTAs in a big way from 2010 onwards.
    • It operationalized big trade agreements with the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Korea, and separately with Malaysia.
    • However, despite these deals, India could realize annual merchandise export growth of only 2.5% between 2010-11 and 2019-20.
    • This disappointing performance shows that FTAs are not conducive for exports.

    Conclusion

    While RCEP may theoretically offer India new opportunities for exports and integration with pan-Asian production networks, we have a lot of work to do internally before we are in a position to make the most of free-trade deals.

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    Closing the communication gap with the farmers

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp,PDS, Buffer Stock & Food Security

    The article suggests the policy options with the government to deal with the protest of the farmers against the recently enacted farm laws.

    Context

    • Farmers have protested against the recently enacted farm laws by converging on Delhi’s highways connected to neighbouring states.

    Why farmers are protesting

    • There is a gross communication failure on the part of the central government to explain to farmers what these laws are, and how they are intended to benefit them.
    • Neither do the laws say anything about it, nor is the MSP/APMC system going to disappear with these laws.
    • Nothing can be further from the truth.

    1) Should government  repeal the laws

    • Punjab farmer leaders, including two major political parties, demand repeal of these laws.
    • However, repealing would mean bringing back controls, licence raj and the resultant rent-seeking.
    • Milk, poultry, fishery, etc. don’t go through the mandi system and their growth rates are 3 to 5 times higher than that of wheat and rice.
    • Overall, almost 90 per cent of the agri-produce is sold to the private sector.

    2) Should the government make MSP legally binding

    • Another demand is making the MSP statutory and legally binding even on the private sector.
    • This is impractical as there are 23 commodities for which MSPs are announced, but in actual practice only wheat and rice enjoy MSPs in any meaningful manner, and that too only in 6-7 states.
    • Punjab is the biggest gainer as its 95-98 per cent of market arrivals of wheat and paddy are procured at MSP by state agencies on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
    • The FCI is overloaded with grain stocks that are more than 2.5 times the buffer stock norms.
    • Such high stock indicates massive economic inefficiency in the grain management system.
    • If the government cannot cope up with excess production of just wheat and rice in any meaningful way, think of how it will handle 23 commodities under MSP.
    • In case of excess production the government will not have the wherewithal to buy all and stock them without any viable outlet.
    • It will massively distort markets, make Indian agriculture non-competitive and stocking of these will be financially unsustainable.
    • And then, why only 23 commodities, why not 40?
    • This type of state socialism is a sure path to financial disaster.

    3) Optio of the Price Stabilisation Scheme

    • The third policy option is to use the Price Stabilisation Scheme to give a lift to market prices by pro-actively buying a part of the surplus whenever market prices crash.
    • It can be done directly by NAFED-type agencies that are already active in the case of pulses and oilseeds.
    • Farmers can use Commodity Derivatives Exchanges where farmers can buy “put options” at MSP before they even sow their crops, and if the market prices at the time of harvest turn out to be below MSP, government can compensate them partly for lower market prices.

    4) Decentralise MSP: Let the states decide it

    • The fourth option is to totally decentralise the MSP, procurement, stocking, and public distribution system (PDS).
    • MSP and procurement exist basically to support farmers for supplying grains to the FCI to feed into the PDS.
    • So, the whole money on food subsidy can be allocated to states on the basis of their share in all-India poverty/proportion of vulnerable population, all-India wheat and rice production, all-India procurement of wheat and rice, etc.
    • A step further could include another Rs 1,00,000 crore of fertiliser subsidy and free up fertiliser prices from any controls.
    • Still further, even include another Rs 1,00,000, say, of MNREGA.
    • Let the Finance Commission work out a formula for distribution of this Rs 3,00,000 crore amongst states based on some tangible performance indicators.
    • And the Centre should get off from MSP, PDS, fertiliser subsidy, and MNREGA.

    Conclusion

    This would be true decentralisation, and can be accomplished provided enough ground work is done well in advance. But will this be acceptable to farmer leaders/opposing states/activists? Only time will tell.

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  • Agricultural Sector and Marketing Reforms – eNAM, Model APMC Act, Eco Survey Reco, etc.

    Need to address farmers’ apprehensions

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Transport & Marketing Of Agricultural Produce

    Farmers are protesting the farm laws which brought changes in the agri-produce marketing and the contract farming. Farmers are also demanding the legal backing of MSP. The article analyses the issues and suggests the measures to address them.

    Analysing merits and feasibility of demands of protesting farmers

    1) The Farmer Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act

    • The Act creates a new “trade area” outside the APMC market yards/sub-yards.
    • Any buyer with a Permanent Account Number (PAN) can buy directly from farmer sellers outside APMC market.
    • The state government can’t impose any taxes on such a transaction.
    • Therefore, it is expected that this would lower buying costs for buyers and that would automatically mean higher prices for farmers.

    Concerns with the law

    • Buyers buying at lower cost does not necessarily mean they would pass on the cost saved on procurement to selling farmers.
    • The claim is also made that now farmers would have a choice of channels.
    • However, the majority of the farm produce across India with the exception of states like Punjab and Haryana does not go through APMCs.
    • Anybody with a PAN card allowed to buy agricultural produce could mean a free-for-all situation, which is not desirable.

    2) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act

    What necessitated law on contract farming?

    • Contract farming has shown that marginal and small farmers are generally excluded.
    • The problems they face include the following-
    • Highly one-sided i.e. pro-contracting agency contracts.
    • Delayed payments.
    • Undue rejections and outright cheating.
    • Poor enforcement of contract farming regulation by the state governments.

    Concerns with the law

    • The Act defined FPOs (farmer producer organisations) as farmers, which restricts them to the supply side.
    • But there is hardly any FPO in farm production.
    • Further, the contract farming Act does not provide for remedies when companies cancel contracts or there is delay in taking delivery of produce.
    • The Act says that sponsor would also pay, besides the minimum guaranteed price, a premium or bonus which will be linked to APMC or e-trading price.
    • This goes against the very concept of contract farming.
    • The contract price should be left to the contracting parties to decide.
    • Further, if the understanding is that mandis are not discovering prices well, then why peg the contract price to such mandi price?

    Lessons from 2003 APMC Act

    • The government must go back to the 2003 Model APMC Act, which also had model contract agreement with mandatory and optional provisions in a contract.
    • In the 2003 Model APMC Act, the APMC was supposed to resolve the disputes.
    • Further under 2003 APMC Act when a licence is given to a trader or commission agent, there is a counterparty risk assurance.

    Apprehensions about MSP

    • The Shanta Kumar Committee report and the CACP reports had suggested reducing procurement and an end to open-ended procurement from states like Punjab to cut down costs of FCI.
    • It is feared that FCI itself may start procuring directly from the new trade area to cut down buying costs like market fees and arhtiya commission.
    • It is more about the changes in the “social contract” between the state’s farmers and the Union government.
    • The demand for legal backing to MSP also arises from the fact that the government has been announcing MSP for 23 crops, but procurement is limited to a few crops.
    • Also, CACP in one of its reports in 2017-18 (kharif) suggested that “to instil confidence among farmers for procurement of their produce, a legislation conferring on farmers ‘the right to sell at MSP’ may be brought out.”
    • Punjab’s amendments to farm Acts — making MSP mandatory for wheat and paddy are ill-advised as this law will discourage private buyers from buying.
    • It is difficult to enforce such a law. Private agricultural markets cannot be run through such diktats.
    •  By creating stringent rules (fine or imprisonment), the government may create a situation where farmers would not be able to sell at all.
    • Maharashtra attempted this legality in 2018 in its APMC Act but had to reverse it after protests by traders.

    Consider the question “What are the factors that necessitated the robust contract farming Act? What are the issues related to the Act? Suggest the measures to address these issues.”

    Conclusion

    Apprehension among the farmers related to the farm laws needs to be addressed and the concern in the laws need to be addressed.

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