Repeal of Farm Laws – A setback or a step in the right direction?
The famous slogan of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” by Lal Bhadur Shastri has now been changed to just some random rhyming words as concluded by the opposition. Has the real motive of making the farm laws been just a political agenda now? Have the problems of a Farmer just become a topic for political agenda?
The integrity of a farmer and his/her well being was questioned when the controversial farm laws were passed. The three new farm laws were: -
Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020;
Farmer’s (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) is a market committee established by the state government to safeguard the interests of farmers and eliminate the middle men or zamindars. Previously, only the APMC license holders could buy the produce. However now any license-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments. The Central Act will prevail over other State Acts, if conflicting.
Even though this law has given the farmers an option to either sell the product in a regional APMC or to even sell it directly to a Multi National Company (MNC), still some people think it’s a smart pan to deceive farmers and make the agricultural sector a private one. Some Farmers also argue that big Multi National Companies (MNCs) can exploit poor farmers. There has been much experience that removing of APMCs has always led to failure. In 2006, Bihar abolished APMC model which led to complete disaster.
Farmer’s (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allow farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely.
A Contract Farming is a prior contract between farmers and buyers to buy and sell at pre - determined prices. It is an agricultural production carried on according to the agreement, which establishes conditions for the production and marketing of a farm product or products.
The Farmers argue that big MNCs can exploit the farmers with the agreement. Since most of the farmers are poor and not well educated, they might be brain washed by these big Multi National Companies and in the end be exploited by these companies.
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act. This law now frees items such as food grains, pulses, edible oils and onion for trade except in extraordinary (read crisis) situations. The Essential Commodities Act previously had a list which included some food items like Potato, Tomato and Oil seeds which at any cost would not be hoarded. However, these basic food items were been removed by these new laws, which meant that the prices of these items in future could touch skies.
Motive of Government behind these laws
The government had said the new laws will help to strengthen basic farm sector infrastructure through greater private investments. Successive governments have found financial constraints in investing in farm and rural infrastructure. It is argued that with food markets growing exponentially in India, private players would make agriculture profitable for the farmers.
What made the Farmers protest?
The main reason for the Farmer’s protest was there worry over MSP assurance. The MSP assurance emerged as the main vocal point and issue of the Farmer’s Protest. There has been an apprehension among the farmers that allowing outside-APMC trade of farm produces would lead to lesser buying by the government agencies in the approved mandis.
The protesting farmers have said the new laws would thus make the MSP system irrelevant and they would not have any assured income from their farming. Right now, the government announces fixed MSP for around two dozen crops. However, paddy, wheat and some pulses are the ones that are procured by the government agencies at the APMC mandis.
The working of the MSP system has been such over the years that it benefits only a handful of farmers at all-India level. The Shanta Kumar committee set up by the Narendra Modi government in 2015 said only six per cent farmers were benefited from the MSP regime. The catch here is that for farmers of some states such as Punjab and Haryana, the MSP system has worked well. In these two states procurement of paddy and wheat range around 75-80 per cent.
So, the fear that the MSP system may crumble and get dismantled after the new farm laws are implemented became a very emotive issue for the farmers of Punjab and Haryana. And, that is why they have been most vocal in their protest against the farm laws, demanding that the MSP should be made mandatory for both APMC and private mandis.
Recent Developments
After more than a year of Farmers sitting on roads and crying their vocals out, the Modi Government decided to announce the withdrawal of the legislation in the winter session of Parliament. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar placed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 in Lok Sabha.
Conclusion
Even though the farmers won over this bill, did they actually win over their stagnant situations? The winning over the farm laws have however not changed the position of a farmer in society. Politicians would still point out farmers for their agendas and the ordinary public would still just talk about a farmer’s pathetic situation in a chat group and do nothing about it. It is a shame that the food provider (Farmer) is taking away his life because he cannot even provide food to his family.
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