Letter to BS: Govt's proposed law to only help traders, big farmers

The government’s proposed central law permitting farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country and allowing traders to buy and sell anywhere will ultimately help only big farmers and traders. In fact, a new cartel of inter-state moneylenders of wealthy farmers and traders will crop up. There has to be in place a mechanism of minimum purchase price to safeguard the interests of small and marginal farmers. Crop diversification is an area which has not been supported much by the Centre in states such as Punjab where the water level is falling deeper each year resulting in increased costs