Top academicians from across India’s leading science and management institutes have come out in ‘support’ of the government’s agriculture and farm law that is currently facing stiff resistance from Punjab based farmers.
A letter dated December 14 written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received consent from 50 professors in science and management institutions. A few professors who spoke to Business Line confirmed the letter and showed emails as proof of their consent. Those who have consented includes professors from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Mumbai, Indian Association for Cultivation of Science, National Institute of Science Education and Research, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi.
At IIT Madras those who have consented to the letter include senior professors from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Department of Electrical Engineering, Department of Physics and Department of Civil Engineering among others.
Academicians and professors from a few other institutions, University of Mumbai (department of Zoology), Central University of Jharkhand, University of Allahabad (Department of Political Science), IIT Roorkee, Former Head and Emeritus Scientist Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), ICAR Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI), West Bengal, CHM College Ulhasnagar, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) Mumbai, Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, Hislop College Nagpur, Dayanand Science College Latur, Vijan Bharati Konkan Prant, University of Delhi and UGC-DAE Consortium for Scientific Research Mumbai.
“We, from the academic world across leading institutes and Universities would like to assure our support to the three farm Acts passed by the Government of India. We discussed with our colleagues who are experts in this field and based on our discussion we feel this moment should not be missed. This is a golden opportunity for reforms which has been eluding agriculture since the industrial reforms in 1991. We are convinced that the moment has arrived for agriculture and if these reforms are missed, agriculture will have no future in India,” the letter said.
Further, the letter reads that all of them who have consented is convinced that “these acts will benefit the farmers than hurting their interests as portrayed by certain vested interests. It will usher in better price discovery mechanisms which will ultimately help the farmers as well as end consumers. These Acts will free them from the clutches of the middlemen and offer choices to the farmers.”
All the academicians are of the view that the act gives complete autonomy to the farmers to trade their products where they want and with whoever they want.
“It places the power of the market in the hands of the farmers, small and large, and our farmers are far more intelligent than what these critics would credit them with. If the farmers still want to sell it to the Government in the mandis and at MSP they are at the liberty to do so. These Acts will make the market transparent and leave no scope for any rent-seeking behaviour. Information technology will be its backbone which would completely transform the way the market will be played,” the academicians believe.