India's parliament repeals contentious farming reform law

Both of India's parliamentary chambers rushed through a bill to scrap the agricultural reforms on Monday, following a decision by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month to reverse course on his controversial agricultural policy. 

What's so significant about the reversal?

The move was rare retreat for Modi, who has stood firm in the face of fierce criticism of his government's policies in the past.
His U-turn came at the end of a year of protest by farmers, thousands of whom have been permanently camped on the outskirts of the capital, New Delhi.

The decision also precedes elections early next year in key states such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, which are significant agricultural producers and where Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eager to shore up its support.

Farmers constitute a particularly influential voting bloc in India, where over 50% of the population is reliant on agriculture to make a living. Farming accounts for about 15% of the nation's $2.7 trillion (€2.27 trillion) economy and over two-thirds of farmers in the country own less than 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres) of land.

Vishavjot Mann, who joined a weekend rally for agricultural workers in Mumbai, told the AFP news agency that she thinks the government does not have any sympathy for the farmers. 

"The government have just announced that they will repeal the laws, not because they think that they were wrong but because they understand that these protests will hamper their election results," she said.
Will this be enough for farmers?

Although the prime minister has urged the protesters to return home, the farmers have said they will stay put until the laws are gone.

The government said the reforms, passed in September last year, would ease regulation of the agriculture market. However, farmers expressed anxiety that smaller producers would be left to the mercy of big corporations, reducing their bargaining power. 

For many of India's farmers, the change of direction is thought unlikely to suffice. They are pressing for more concession from the government, including minimum prices for a wider variety of crops and compensation for the families of hundreds of farmers they said died during the protests. 

There are currently state-set Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for rice and wheat, but the subsidies only benefit about 6% of India's millions of farmers.

Protesters want MSPs for all crops to be included — a move that has  seen the protests swell beyond India's grain-growing states of Punjab and Haryana.

rc/wmr (dpa, AP)