Hafta 473: MSP guarantee for farmers, what happened in Sandeshkhali

This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by journalist Monideepa Banerjie and agricultural policy expert Devinder Sharma.

On the situation in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali, Monideepa gives a timeline of what happened. She explains that after being accused of exploiting local women, TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh has been absconding for the last 50 days and hasn’t returned to the village. Shardool says, “It is the BJP that has shown why it is important to have a strong opposition.”

The panel then discusses the farmers’ demand for a minimum support price guarantee for agricultural produce. Citing data, Devinder says farmers are facing the “crisis of survival” as the average income from farming in India is Rs 27 per day. Abhinandan says many well-to-do farmers in Punjab support their lifestyle from other businesses as farming remains unprofitable.

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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Timecodes

00:05:20 - Headlines

00:19:00 - Sandeshkhali

00:48:15 - Farmers’ protests

01:32:44 - Letters

01:57:42 - Recommendations

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Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Hassan Bilal.

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