Ever wondered how MSP for crops is calculated ?

Below is an attempt to present a simplified view, followed by some pertinent questions (just to have better understanding, not taking sides)&

To the office-goers who think the #FarmersProtest is misguided and that the laws are actually good for them. Imagine this: Imagine that the government, without asking you or anyone, passed laws that made it possible for your employer to pay you as little as ten rupees a month.

Now imagine that when you said this was unfair, they told you this is for your own good because you have also been given the freedom to work anywhere in the world, for any company of your choice. They also tell you that if you want, you can even work for individuals.

Now, I am sure this was really easy for you to imagine if you work over the internet. But in order to really understand this, imagine what would happen if you couldn't. What if you had to go to work physically every day and what if your work involved physical movement of goods.

I think you will be extremely pissed. I think you will not like it at all. You have a life that involves commuting to work. You have your expenses sorted out. It is easier for you to deal with your salaried life than to manage ten thousand work engagements spread out all over.

Now imagine that you told the government you don't like this decision and that you will like things to go back to the way they were. Imagine you are ignored completely. Imagine you gather up your fellow office-goers and march to the seat of power to make your voice heard.

'Farmers Protests'.
the bitter truth, probably -
(COPIED from a friend's wall)
I am still not clear about the issues involved in the Farmer's agitation. So, I asked a friend of mine, who besides engineering is a farmer from Abohar - Fazilka region of Punjab.

Now, after retirement, he is a full-time farmer.
This is what he told me.
"I have been actively farming for almost two decades now and I have witnessed many things happen at APMC’s.
I have seen classifications of C grade grain miraculously change into B grade grain.

Similarly, I've also witnessed the weighbridge weigh in the empty truck at 39 tons & the full truck at 55 tons and later found that the unloaded truck weighed 43 tons at another weighbridge.
Yes I know, you know what I know. Yet let me tell you more abt what you may already know.

There are over 30,000 registered adtiyas in Punjab.
These 30,000 employ another 300,000 sub-agents or sidekicks or people who wouldn’t have made it into doing anything anyplace were it not for the patronage network of these 30,000. There are only 1500 farming villages in Punjab.

330,000 / 1500 is about 220 people on average per village doing the work of middlemen.
Why is this the case?
It’s a long story but someone needs to begin talking about this at some time.
We had a food shortage and a ship to mouth existence until the 1970s.

The Farm Law Protests mask the Blatant Inequality of Rural Punjab where Dalit farm labour derisively known as seeri are oppressed.

If these poor labour demand any pay increase, they are boycotted by landlords often with collusion of district administration.

When these labourers start demanding pay increments, the landlords rain down on them with majoritarian might. Any collective action is crushed with village-wide “boycotts.”

The boycotted Dalit farm labour of Punjab are unable to procure sauda, the household supplies. Milk becomes out of reach, so does fodder for the precious livestock. They are barred from using the common shamlatland for grazing the paltry cows and goats which they own.

In village Mahan Singh Wala, this rural apartheid was announced by the gurdwara. In places like Amirke, Faride Wala, Dhotian, Sardarpura, Gandav, Sakohan, Lehra Khana and Khiva Khurd, the labourers either faced violence or had to walk miles to procure the household supplies.

All these boycotts were recorded within a matter of few months in the year 2012.

In fact, over time, this has become a time-tested political strategy in rural Punjab and such boycotts could potentially last for years.

Digging out old unrelated images and videos and circulating them with a false narrative has become a booming cottage industry. Thread on the misinformation that has been spread to discredit farmers' protest and how #AltNewsFactCheck has busted each claim.👇1/n

In the right-wing mind, the easiest way to malign is to manufacture a Muslim angle. So an old photo that predates the bills was dug out & falsely shared BJP office bearers and supporters as Muslim man disguised as Sikh to participate in the agitation. 2/n

80+ yo 'Shaheen Bagh Dadi' still rattles the RW like no other. So a photo of an elderly Punjabi woman was shared with the false claim that she is Bilkis Bano and is paid to join the protest. KanganaRanaut, GaruavPradhan were among those who shared it. 3/n

When the Muslim angle failed, Khalistan angle was pulled out. An old video of pro-Pak, Khalistan chants during cricket World Cup match in UK was shared as farmers' protest. BJP's PritiGandhi, PunitAgwaral etc shared this. 4/n

A photograph shot during anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh in February was shared with the false claim that it shows 'Hathras Bhabhi' at farmers' protest. BJP leaders were joined by supporters like Shefali Vaidya in spreading the misinformation 5/n