As most of us are well aware, the Parliament of India has formally endorsed two contentious agriculture Bills recently, in spite of the opposition as well as long-time BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal terming it an “anti-farmer” move. The latest update is that Minister of Food Processing Industries and the only SAD representative in the Modi government, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, resigned from the Union Cabinet, protesting against the bills, alleging the Bills to be detrimental to Punjab’s agriculture sector.
Presented below are the key highlights you should know about these new agriculture bills:
Which are the three Bills in contention?
There are a total of three Bills in contention. Recently, the Lok Sabha, through voice vote, passed the “Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020” and the “Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.” The “Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill” was passed earlier in the week. Talking about these Bills, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the bills are not going to override the “Minimum Support Price” mechanism, and adequate protection of land ownership was in place to protect the farmers’ interests. They will now be tabled in Rajya Sabha and will become laws after the Upper House passes them.
What are these Bills for?
According to the government, these reforms will accelerate growth in the sector through private sector investment in building infrastructure and supply chains for farm produce in national and global markets. They are expected to help small farmers who don’t have means to either bargain for their produce to get a better price or invest in technology to improve the productivity of farms. The bill on Agri market aims to allow farmers to sell their produce outside APMC ‘mandis’ to whoever they want. Farmers are likely to get better prices through competition and cost-cutting on transportation. But, this Bill could mean states will lose ‘commissions’ and ‘mandi fees’. The legislation on contract farming will permit the farmers to enter into a contract with agri-business firms or large retailers on pre-agreed prices of their produce. The “Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020” seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. This will end the imposition of stock-holding limits except under extraordinary circumstances.
Who is protesting against these Bills?
Mostly, the farmers in Punjab have organized a three-day protest against the bills. Ms. Badal, too, tendered her resignation after the Bills were passed. Opposition parties – including TMC, Congress, DMK and BSP – opposed the agriculture sector reform bills, stating that they were against the interests of small and marginal farmers. Congress raised its protest against the Modi government, terming the move a conspiracy to defeat the Green Revolution. Criticizing the government, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said: “This government has been eyeing, how they can take the farmers’ land to benefit their capitalist friends, whether is the Land Acquisition Act, whether in the industrial system through weakening the labour courts and now this three-pronged attack on the Indian agricultural system through the two bills on farming – one related to APMC, the other one is related to contract farming and the third bill which is on essential commodities… a three-pronged attack on the Indian farmers.”
