India’s recently-enacted 3 Farm laws have the potential to increase farmers’ income, said International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath.
While IMF’s Chief Economist agreed that agriculture is one of the areas where India needs holistic reforms and backed the recent farm laws, she added that there is a need to provide a social safety net to the vulnerable cultivators.
In a statement to PTI, she said- “These laws will help widen the market for farmers and allow them to sell to multiple outlets besides the Mandis without having to pay tax and this had the potential to raise, in our view, farmers’ incomes.”
Transition Cost Comes With The Reforms.
She said, every time a reform is put in place, there are transition costs. One has to make sure and pay close attention that it’s not harming vulnerable farmers, to make sure that the social safety net is provided. Clearly there is a discussion right now and we’ll see what comes out if it,” she added.
Meanwhile, thousands of farmers in India, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at several Delhi border points since November 28 last year, demanding a repeal of the farm laws and a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.