Unjustified demands

Price guarantee will kill the agri market

Two years after farmers called off their protests, they are again marching towards Delhi with multiple demands. Protesting farmers want, among other things, a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, loan waivers, pensions, and a doubling of the number of work days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. They also want India to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. While the government was negotiating with farmers till the press time, most of the demands lack basic economic logic. The timing is also intriguing. The Lok Sabha elections can be called