About this episode

The episode discusses the resistance of Haryana's farmers to new digital verification rules imposed for crop procurement.

By the time farmers in Haryana were ready to head to the anaj mandis (grain markets) to sell their Rabi harvest, the rules of entry had been revised. The Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board's March 28 directive introduced a new set of conditions for crop procurement — mandatory registration on the 'Meri Fasal Mera Byora' portal, Aadhaar-based biometric verification, and vehicle number registration via the e-Kharid app. The State government says the measures are aimed at curbing fraud and improving transparency. Farmers see it as a bureaucratic maze that, whether by intent or effect, slows the procurement process to a point where the Minimum Support Price (MSP) becomes harder, and sometimes impossible, to claim.On April 11, farmers staged demonstrations across the State, calling for the compliance burden to be re-evaluated. Can digital governance work if it places the weight of reform on the farmer? When the State modernises to fix systemic fraud, who pays the price? Host: Vibha B. Madhava Guest: G.S. Mann, member of the India chapter of the Global Farmer Network and a former journalist. Producer: Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

People in this episode

Host: Vibha B. Madhava

Guest: G.S. Mann

Topics covered

• farmers' protests
• digital verification
• agricultural policies
• procurement process
• Minimum Support Price
• bureaucratic challenges

Keywords

• Haryana
• farmers
• digital governance
• procurement
• Aadhaar
• biometric verification
• Minimum Support Price
• demonstrations
• bureaucracy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, Global Farmer Network, e-Kharid app, Meri Fasal Mera Byora

Places: Haryana

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