TIF Talkies: Ajay Vir Jakhar discusses what we should be doing to end the farm crisis

September 03, 2021

Welcome to TIF Talkies, a new audio initiative of The India Forum, where we hope to disengage from the ever-flowing torrent of the newscycle and follow up on contemporary events with a whole lot of questions— both big and small. Each season, we'll be bringing together policymakers, academics, public intellectuals and journalists going beyond the headline and providing you with more context. Whether you’re here out of curiosity, or you are a policymaker, researcher, or a student, rest assured, we’ll have something for you!

A new episode will be released every second Friday, so do subscribe to our channels and stay tuned.

The first season of TIF Talkies engages with the farmers’ protests that have been ongoing since the past year, and probes the stalemate between the government and the farmers which persists despite several rounds of talks.

In the first episode we speak with Sukhpal Singh about the MSP and why its legality has been a crucial demand for the protesting farmers. Prof Singh, former chairperson of the Centre for Management in Agriculture at IIM, Ahmedabad, is an authority on contract farming.

In the second episode, we speak with Mekhala Krishnamurthy about agricultural market regulation and the changes to Mandi rules under the new farm laws. This has been a crucial point of contention in the ongoing farmers' protest. Dr Krishnamurthy is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Ashoka University and a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research. Over the last decade, she has done extensive fieldwork on agriculture and agricultural markets across different states in India.

In the third episode, we speak with Richa Kumar, Associate Professor of Sociology and Policy Studies at IIT Delhi, about changing ecologies, cultivation practices and how the current government hopes to tackle these real threats to farmers' livelihoods.

In the fourth episode, we speak with Satendra Kumar, Assistant Professor at G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, about how the ongoing protests have revived farmer identity.

In the concluding episode for this season, Ajay Vir Jakhar talks about the ongoing farmers' protests and what we can do to end the farming crisis in India. Jakhar is a citrus farmer himself, and is also the Chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, a farmers' advocacy organisation.

Listen to the first episode here: Sukhpal Singh explains the MSP & its importance for farmers

Listen to the second episode here: Mekhala Krishnamurthy discusses the changes to Mandi rules under new farm laws

Listen to the third episode here: Richa Kumar discusses how the new farm laws tackle India's changing ecologies

Listen to the fourth episode here: Satendra Kumar discusses the history and evolution of farmer identity in India

Listen to the fifth episode here: Ajay Vir Jakhar discusses what we should be doing to end the farm crisis

 

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This article was last updated on January 18, 2023
The India Forum

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