Results of reforms

Direct payment for crops will benefit farmers

The glitch-free marketing of the rabi produce, resulting in record procurement of most crops at the minimum support prices (MSP), cannot be viewed in isolation from the lingering impasse between the government and the agitating farmers over the three reforms-oriented laws. The most noteworthy upshot of this massive marketing operation is the successful enforcement of some key reformist measures despite the Supreme Court’s stay on the new legislation. Side-tracking middlemen (read arhtiyas) and direct payment to farmers for their procured stocks under the direct benefit transfer (DBT) system are the cases in point. Moreover, the Centre has also managed to