Farm Laws / Bills 2020 Withdrawn by Government: Farmers’ Protests will observe the one-year anniversary of their protests on November 26. The farmers’ protests would have marked the first anniversary of their constant agitation against the Centre’s three agricultural laws. As a result, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has organised nationwide protests on November 26 to mark the occasion.
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Farm Laws 2020 Withdrawn: What PM Modi said?
According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PM Modi), three farm laws were enacted this year to liberalise India’s agricultural markets, and he urged protesters to return home. Modi also encouraged the demonstrators to return home.
The three farm laws, which went into effect in September 2020, allowed farmers to sell their commodities directly to significant customers rather than via government-regulated wholesale marketplaces. This, according to the administration, would release farmers from their restraints and allow them to receive more excellent prices.
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Farmers have been camping out on crucial highways leading to Delhi since then, in what has become India’s longest-running farmer’s protest against the government, showing their resistance to the restrictions.
“Three farm laws were brought in specially to support small farmers. So that the get more options and better price for their produce. Every farmer in the country, kisan organisations welcomed farm laws,
I thank all of them today. We are all in for supporting small farmers, for their progress our intent was pure, but we could not convicne some farmers. We tried our best to explain these laws to these farmers. we spoke, we discussed, we tried to convince them. Govt was even ready to re-work these farm laws. Lots happened in two years. Today i apologise with if some farmers did not understand what we wanted to do through farm laws.”
Narendra Modi, PM (India)
A general body meeting of the SKM had demanded that farmers from Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh converge in large numbers near the national capital on the day in question.
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According to the constitutional procedure, the measure will be withdrawn within a month. Their government is committed to the success of farmers, particularly small-scale farmers. We are committed to providing them with the finest service possible. With the best of intentions, we adopted farm law.
Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020
This Bill permits farmers to sell their goods at marketplaces other than those regulated by the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC). APMCs are government-controlled marketing yards, sometimes known as mandis. As a result, the farmers have more options in terms of who they want to sell to. Government officials argue that the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) is a relic from a time of scarcity. This monopolistic cartel sets low prices for farmers’ produce and forces distress sales.
Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
This Bill creates provisions for the establishment of an agricultural contract system. Before the production begins, the farmer and an appointed buyer might reach an agreement.
According to PRS India, a “Standing Committee on Agriculture (2018-19)” stated that the APMC statutes need modification since cartelisation had begun to crystallise due to the low number of dealers in APMC mandis. As a result, the following law was enacted in September 2020.
The 2020 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill
The Farmers’ Product Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 authorises intra-state and inter-state trade of farmers’ produce outside of the physical premises of APMC marketplaces. Outside of APMC zones, state governments are not permitted to collect any market fee, cess, or tax.
How would the Farm laws help farmers?
- Destroy the monopolistic cartel at the APMC mandi and sell the product to anybody, wherever.
- Bypass the Essential Commodities Act and be free to keep merchandise that was previously restricted by ESCA stocking limitations.
- Free to create contracts and transfer risk to businesspeople in crop-related transactions even before yield is achieved or met.
What were causing the farmers’ dissatisfaction?
Farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana are outraged by the contents of these Bills, fearing that they would serve as a platform for the government (at the Centre) to replace or abolish the otherwise solid support system in their states for the purchase of their crops. They are concerned that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee, which has been their safety net since the Green Revolution of the 1960s, would be stolen away from them under the guise of offering farmers more playing ground and better platforms.
In these places, state-government-driven agriculture produces excellent procurement infrastructure. Procurement through the Food Corporation of India at the guaranteed MSP to farmers, announced before each agricultural season encourages farmers to focus on increasing productivity.
MSPs are available for 23 agricultural products. However, governments typically purchase rice and wheat. Farmers are concerned about the two recent pieces of legislation because they believe they would eliminate the government procurement mechanism and the MSP. And why are the majority of demonstrators from Punjab and Haryana? This is because they are the primary beneficiaries of this safety net.