Centre considering legislation for women farmers’ empowerment, says PM-EAC Chairman
The Indian government is considering legislation to protect the rights of women farmers, inspired by a similar act in Maharashtra. Officials emphasized the need to shift agriculture toward income-centric models and improve gender-disaggregated data collection.
Why it matters
This policy initiative highlights a growing focus on gender equity in the agricultural sector and the importance of institutional support for women's economic empowerment.
The Union government is considering a separate legislation to protect the rights of women farmers, on the lines of 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 (August 7, 2026).
Speaking at the inauguration of a conference on ‘Building Gender-just Food, Land, and Water Systems’ at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Professor Dev described the Maharashtra law as a landmark legislation and said other States could draw inspiration from it. “The Centre is also discussing something similar,” he said.
Highlighting the need to place women at the centre of agrifood systems, he said agriculture should shift from being production-centric to income-centric. This, he said, could be achieved through crop diversification, better post-harvest marketing, food and agro-processing, and institutional support to enhance farmers’ incomes.
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