Now Reading: Centre may bring law for women farmers, says PM-EAC chief
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Centre may bring law for women farmers, says PM-EAC chief
The Union government is considering a separate legislation to protect the rights of women farmers, modelled on the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory…
The Story in Brief
The Union government is considering a separate legislation to protect the rights of women farmers, modelled on the Maharashtra Women Farmers Empowerment Act, 2026, S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said in Chennai on Friday. Speaking at a conference at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, he said the Centre is discussing a similar law. The Maharashtra Bill received support across party lines, said state minister Aditi Sunil Tatkare, adding implementation will begin this year.
Professor Dev stressed shifting agriculture from production-centric to income-centric models through diversification and better marketing. The ongoing Census should capture women's unpaid work, urged former IAS officer C. Chandramouli. 2026 has been designated the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer.
The Indian Opinion
The promise of a central law for women farmers is welcome, but the narrative that legislation alone ensures empowerment needs scrutiny. The Maharashtra Act’s success will hinge on implementation details, land rights, credit access, and data collection. The real test is whether the Census will finally count unpaid farm labour as work. Without that, any law risks being symbolic. Will the Centre’s draft address the land ownership gap that keeps women farmers invisible? That number will settle the question.
Source: thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
