Dr M.S. Swaminathan, known as the father of India’s Green Revolution - which took place in Panjab, the Bread Basket of the nation, at 98 died on 28 Sep in Chennai. The Green Revolution, necessary in the late 1960s, has a mixed legacy. While it fed the nation, a lack of innovation over decades caused it to devastate Panjab. In 2004, in the wake of farmer suicides, the then Congress government, created the National Commission for Farmers headed by Dr Swaminathan. He presented the report in 2007. However, the Congress government did not implement it. Later the BJP government promised to implement it when it came to power in 2014, but they went back on their promise. In 2020, the BJP government introduced the draconian Farm Bills which the farmers of Panjab and north India opposed for over a year losing 730 lives. While the government repealed the laws, one of the pending demands was to legalize the Minimum Support Price (MSP) proposed by the Commission. Last week farmers in north Panjab blocked trains for three days to press on the demand for MSP, and financial package for recent floods.
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