All those who have been following this matter of challenges faced by Indian farmers and have a soft corner for them , particularly when more than a lac have committed suicide since 2000, would notice that almost every expert has criticized the Mandi act and wanted to do away with them and every expert talked of freeing the shackles of marginal and poor farmers. Pick up old newspapers and magazines to look for experts views on this subject.
However, astonishingly, no Govt since 2000 took any pains in removing those hurdles, the farmers, sadly, kept dying and the Govts kept shedding crocodile tears but did nothing.
Were the successive Govts full of idiots? Were Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi indifferent to the farmers’ miseries ? If they could think of MNREGA and Food security Bill then I think they were not indifferent in its real sense. A politician is not an idiot, he usually does things which can enhance their electoral prospects.
So, in hind sight I can say that these leaders Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi etc were aware that if these shackles are removed some influential farmers and middlemen who have tremendous political clout will get disturbed and it will be risky from the electoral point of view to do anything that may harm their interests. So, they preferred to be politically correct and so instead of helping the marginal famers, they went in for political gains, instead of saving farmers’ lives, they went in for votes. As they thought that Inaction in this regard will serve the electoral purpose better.