Minority of Rich Protesting Farmers Calling for Continuation of Colonial Rule, Says IMF’s Surjit Bhalla

Bhalla opined that the old farm laws that facilitated the creation of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) were put in place about 150 years ago for the British to procure raw cotton for mills in Manchester. The cotton produced thus was then sold to the Indians for hefty profits. The APMC made sure that cotton farmers were obligated to sell to the colonial masters in a market regulated by them.