After two months of the farmers protest, the outcry has gathered global attention. Amidst all the fuss there is great confusion in the general public about the protests and the bills. To cut short the story here is all you need to know about the issue.
The Rajya Sabha recently passed three farm bills:
- The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
- The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020
Laws will benefit farmers, says government
The government believes these bills will help small and marginal farmers in getting better prices for their produce by directly selling outside the local mandis, both inter-state and intra-state. Farmers can now sell to anyone – from large corporations to small retailers, hoteliers and restaurants directly without going through the route of APMCs (Agricultural Produce Market Committees). The government believes this will unlock the value of agriculture, ushers in new wave of agritech firms and eventually increase the income for small and marginal farmers, as they can move out of the clutches of middlemen.
As per the new provisions, the state governments can’t impose any cess or fee on the farmers. Another major reform is monitoring and regulation of stock-holding limits by the centre.
The farmer’s side of the story
Not all farmers are convinced about the new laws. They fear the government is trying to snatch away the MSP (Minimum Support Price) in the name of providing them better prices for their produce. Also, farmers are sceptical about dealing with large corporations as they fear exploitative bargaining and getting arm-twist by big corporations into selling their crops at low prices.
Farmers are also peeved about the dispute settlement and conflict resolution mechanism proposed in the bills, which is at sub-divisional magistrate level instead of judiciary.
Agitated by the bills, farmers from the states like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh are protesting at the borders of the national capital.
Recently on December 8th Bharat Bandh was observed by the protesting Kisan unions against the newly formed agricultural laws. The protestors demand to convene a special parliament session to repeal these farm laws.
The jury is still out what way this protest will take. The overarching aim of the new law to free up the farmers and unleash a new wave of agriculture is indeed noble and should be pursued. However, there is a case for the defects in the bills to be amended to take care of the concerns of small and marginal farmers. But first the farmers must relent from their position of repeal of all the laws.