The contentious bill which was introduced in Rajya Sabha on 23rd March, 2020 was sent to the parliamentary panel amidst certain concerns. The bill was brought in to replace the Insecticides Act, 1968 and aims to manage the manufacture, sale, storage, sale, disposal of pesticides and use distribution. The bill will also be discussed in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament.
Experts are having mixed opinions about the bill. Under this bill, the manufacture and use of pesticides not registered for use in India won’t be allowed event if the pesticides have got approval from other countries. As per some experts of the agriculture field, PMB 2020 can have bad repercussions on the livelihood of the farmers.
On June 3, the bill was referred to the parliamentary committee as demanded by the stakeholders and the pesticide industries. Agricultural experts believe that the manufacture and export of the pesticides should be allowed as it would help generate employment opportunities and get foreign exchange in return. Although the central government believes that the bill can reform the farm sector completely by reducing the use of hazardous chemicals but the farm activists think that the Indian agriculture will be adversely affected if this bill is passed in its current form.