Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Infuriated by New Regulations, Indian Farmers Hit the Streets

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - For more than a week, tens of thousands of Indian farmers
   have been camped on highways leading into New Delhi, demanding the
   rollback of three new laws that will change the way they have sold
   crops for decades at government-regulated agricultural markets, to pave
   the way for free market trade.

   "How will I sell directly to a private buyer? My produce is too small
   to transport to neighboring areas like Delhi to bargain for a better
   price," says Krishan Kumar, who farms a small plot of land in Haryana
   state. "The government market is within 10 kilometers of my village and
   it is easy for me to sell it there."

   Like Kumar, the sea of farmers who have converged on the outskirts of
   Delhi are enraged that the government has rolled back regulations that
   they depend on to safeguard them from market forces.

   While the government says the laws will transform Indian agriculture
   and allow farmers to sell their produce for a higher price anywhere in
   the country, farmers fear they will be left vulnerable to exploitation
   by private corporations. They say this will undercut incomes that are
   already meager.

.