Will Rajasthan opium farmers vote for change?

Rajasthan is one of the major opium producing states of India but opium farmers in the state are in distress over the new policies introduced by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Many farmers have lost their licences to cultivate opium after the new policies were enforced by the government.

Under the new minimum qualifying yield (MQY) criterion mandated from 2017-18 for issuing a licence, the content of morphine, the main ingredient in opium and other narcotic drugs, will be counted. The farmers had to deliver an MQY of 49 kg of opium per hectare till May 2017 to obtain a licence for the next year.