Page 74 - March EW PDF 24

Special Report

Repealed legislation: Missed opportunity

n June 2020, the BJP government at the Centre legislated farmgate and retail prices being ten-fold. However in Punjab
and quickly enacted three important Bills which were later and Haryana, middlemen tend to be kith and kin of farmers
Irepealed (2021) because of prolonged (56 weeks) opposi- and often provide quick loans for the purchase of farming
tion from over 40 farmers organisations — mainly from the inputs such as seeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Therefore,
foodgrains (rice and wheat) growing areas of Punjab, Haryana farmers in these states are reportedly disinclined to disturb
and Western Uttar Pradesh — grouped under the banner of the status quo.
the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM). These farmers staged Unsurprisingly, independent monitors of the Indian econo-
determined opposition to the three Bills by camping on the my were in favour of the three Bills which have been repealed.
Punjab-Delhi border where they were stopped by police and Gita Gopinath, former Chief Economist of International Monetary
para-military of the Central government. Fund, opined the “farm bills and labour bills are very important
The SKM’s demand was that government should restrict steps in the right direction”. Sociologist Salvatore Babones, as-
trading in farm produce to government approved APMC (Agri- sociate professor at the University of Sydney, expressed the
cultural Produce Market Committee) areas and declare annual opinion that the legislation would transform Indian agriculture
minimum support prices (MSPs) at which government would from a “locally managed rural economy into a modern national
be obliged to purchase 23 commodities including wheat and industry”. Moreover in January 2021, 866 academics from
rice at the option of farmers. Since the legislation didn’t men- several education institutes including Delhi, Gorakhpur, Rajas-
tion MSPs because the objective of the legislation was to than and Gujarat universities signed an open letter, expressing
create a competitive national market for farm produce, the support for the three farm Bills.
negotiations failed. After the standoff between government However, Kaushik Basu, former chief economist at the World
and the protesting farmers resulted in a stalemate, the BJP Bank, described the farm Bills as “flawed” and “detrimental
government at the Centre withdrew and repealed the conten- to farmers”. In February 2021, 413 academics from across
tious legislation in November 2021. India and several foreign universities including Jawaharlal Ne-
The three Acts which were enacted — admittedly without hru University, IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Madras, IISc Bangalore, Indian
adequate debate in Parliament — were: Statistical Institute Kolkata, Delhi University, Panjab University,
Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) IIT- Bombay, IIM-Calcutta condemned the legislation in a joint
Act, 2020 statement.
• Expanded trade areas of farmers’ produce from APMCs to Although the academic community was divided on the
“any place of production, collection, aggregation”. impact of the three reform Bills, significantly, the Shetkari
• Allowed electronic trading and e-commerce of farmers’ Sanghatana, a farmers’ union in Maharashtra established in
produce. the 1980s with a single point agenda — remunerative prices for
• Prohibited state governments from levying any market fee, farm produce — by the late Sharad Joshi (1935-2015) to ensure
cess, or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading plat- free markets for Maharashtra’s onion and cotton producers,
forms for trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside supported the repealed legislation.
trade area’. “Members of the Shetkari Sanghatana, the apex body
Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assur- of farmers in Maharashtra formed by the late Sharad Joshi,
ance and Farm Services Act, 2020 wants the market to play its role to decide the prices of agri
• Provided a legal framework for farmers to enter into pre- commodities; it contends that MSP has actually weakened
arranged (forward) contracts with buyers at agreed prices. farmers, instead of empowering them. The Sanghatana is
• Introduced a disputes resolution mechanism. planning an agitation demanding that the government give
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 freedom to farmers and stop intervening in the agri commodity
Removed cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds, and market so that farmers will not have to depend on MSP,” wrote
oils, from the list of essential commodities subject to govern- Radheshyam Jadhav, correspondent of Hindu Business Line
ment imposed price controls, abolished stockholding limits (December 7, 2020)
of agriculture and horticulture produce by traders, except in It’s self-evident that when wholesale and retail traders coun-
instances of extraordinary price rise. trywide are free to contract directly with farmers, farmgate
Evidently the objective of these Acts was to enable whole- prices which are currently way below retail prices, are certain
salers/traders countrywide to bid competitively for agriculture to rise. Such direct connect is entirely feasible in the new age
and horticulture produce. This would have had the effect of ICT (information communication technologies). The bane of
of breaking the hold of APMC middlemen and commission Indian agriculture is low — indeed distress — prices. Forward
agents over the trade in farm produce. India is unique in terms markets and contract farming is in the best interests of India’s
of the large number of middlemen operating between farmers farmers trapped in the low incomes mire. Pity their leaders
and consumers which often results in the variation between the don’t understand this.

74 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2024