P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister :

Two farmer-related Ordinances have been approved by the Lok Sabha. Farmers of Punjab and Haryana are on the streets protesting. Captures the distance between the people and the government!

The two Ordinances challenge the three pillars of our still-imperfect ‘food security system’. They are (1) MSP; (2) public procurement; and (3) PDS

The grave flaw in the Ordinances is that they do not stipulate that the price which the farmer gets ‘shall not be less than the MSP’.

States were not consulted. The passage of the laws is a huge blow dealt by the BJP government to States’ rights and federalism.

Farmers in TN have told me that they are selling paddy at Rs 850 to private traders against an MSP of Rs 1150. State government must explain