SEBI study also agrees that banning trading in the Agri commodity futures was counterproductive as mentioned in the above article. And yet the ban was extended by 2 more months till March '25 at the beginning of this month. Looks like the decision to ban trading was taken by the Central Government all these 3 years and SEBI was simply propped up as the scapegoat. It is obvious that the Central Government is probably playing these games to get back at and punish the farmers who protested against them some time back. They are not realizing that this move hurts not only the farmers but also the traders, hedgers, distributors, wholesalers, brokers, exchanges, edible oil producers and others in the entire ecosystem. By this move, the Central Government is not only curbing free markets but also trampling on the right to livelihood enshrined in our Constitution. Let us pray that better sense prevails.
I wish we could get our hands on this “A study commissioned by Sebi” mentioned in the article to understand whether there were any nuances involved, that the article might be glossing over, which could explain the decision to extend the status-quo for 2 more months. 