There are 265 crops and the MSP guarantee will have to be given to farmers producing all these crops – this will be a disaster. Farmers celebrate following the announcement of suspension of their year-long protest against farm laws & other related issues, at Singhu border in New Delhi on Thursday. Credit: IANS Photo Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the repeal of the three contentious farm laws on November 19, protesting farmers lost no time in coming up with a new charter of demands. The most potent of these is a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP). Even as Modi proposed to set up a committee to recommend how MSP can be...
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Category: Regulatory environment
Repeal of farm laws: PM Modi’s volte-face
The arthiyas, large farmers and traders have successfully protected their turf while small farmers, who constitute the overwhelming majority, have lost On November 19, 2021, announcing his Government’s decision to repeal the contentious three farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologized for not being able to convince a section of the farmers about the benefits that these laws would bring them. Are these laws so complex as to become incomprehensible to the farmer? The “Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India”, SAS in short, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), covering the period July 2018 to June 2019, reveals widespread dissatisfaction among farmers with the price realized from sale of their...
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Farm laws – Modi’s volte face
On November 19, 2021, announcing his Government’s decision to repeal the contentious three farm laws viz. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, Prime Minister, Narendra Modi apologized for not being able to convince the nation about the benefits that these laws would bring to a section of the farmers. Are these laws so complex as to become incomprehensible to the farmer? The “Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India”, SAS in short, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), covering the period July 2018 to June...
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Why Modi does not repeal the farm laws
The farm laws will open up multiple options for farmers, enabling them to realise a price of their choice which could be even more than MSP Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has demonstrated resilience while navigating other reform measures, he has refused to budge on the three farm laws despite the nearly 10-month-long protest by farmers demanding their repeal. The “Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India”, SAS in short, released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), covering the period July 2018 to June 2019, reveals widespread dissatisfaction among farmers with the price realized from sale of their produce; it varies depending on the commodity. The shares of farmers dissatisfied are...
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Why Modi doesn’t repeal farm laws
Even as Modi has demonstrated resilience while navigating other reform measures, on the three farm laws, he has refused to budge despite nearly 10 month long protest by farmers demanding their repeal. Here are the prime reasons. Let us start by referring to the results of a recent exercise termed “Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India” or in short SAS released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) covering the period July 2018 to June 2019. It reveals widespread dissatisfaction among farmers with the price realized from sale of their produce; it varies depending on the commodity. The shares of farmers dissatisfied are cereals: 25%; fruits: 28%; pulses: 32%; oilseeds: 35%; vegetables:...
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Agri – reforms stymied, course correction needed
In an unprecedented order delivered on January 12, 2021, the Supreme Court (SC) has stayed the implementation of the three laws on agricultural marketing reforms enacted by the Modi – Government in September, 2020. The top court normally intervenes if a law passed by the Parliament is either beyond its legislative competence or is unconstitutional in as much as it violates the basic structure of the constitution. In the instant case, none of these reasons apply. In fact, the SC has not yet examined the constitutionality or otherwise of the laws (a petition in this regard is already pending with it). Then, what has prompted the court to take recourse to such an extraordinary step. Tens of thousands farmers –...
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Legalizing MSP is anti-farmer
The anger of agitating farmers over the three farm bills enacted in September, 2020 refuses to subside. Despite a categorical assurance by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi that the MSP (minimum support price) will continue and that the government was prepared to give this in writing, they are unfazed. Their leaders are insisting that all sales of agricultural produce including those outside APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) mandis – now permitted under the Central law viz. Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 – should be made at MSP and that this must be provided for in the Act. At present, the Centre notifies MSP for 23 agri-items, however, this MSP has no legal sanction. The Food...
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Farm Laws: Centre must not yield to ‘mandatory MSP’
Mandatory MSP and Levies on non-APMC markets will be an assault on the reforms the Union government has ushered in with the new farm laws Currently, under the APMC system, a farmer has to pay three levies on the produce she brings to the mandi, notified by the state government under its APMC Act. —————————————————————— To address the concerns of agitating farmers over the three farm bills enacted in September, the Union minister for agriculture & farmers welfare, NS Tomar, has agreed to consider (i) strengthening the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) by imposing levies at ‘uniform’ rate on purchase at APMC and non-APMC platforms—latter now permitted under the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and...
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Food distribution – stem the rot
During the past seven years or so, the government has weeded out close to 44 million bogus ration cards with 17 million junked in Uttar Pradesh (UP) alone (other states where substantial number of bogus ration cards have been weeded out include West Bengal 7 million, Maharashtra 4 million besides Karnataka, Rajasthan and Telangana where more than a million each have been eliminated). This has happened mostly under Modi – government. It successfully used the IT infrastructure (digitization, seeding of ration cards with Aadhar and installation of electronic PoS machine at retail shops). Currently, there are 230 million ration cards (815 million individual beneficiaries). The weeded out bogus cards or 44 million is about 20%. This is creditable especially when...
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Food for thought
The co-existence of APMC and non-APMC markets giving competition to each other is the best foot forward for ensuring a fair deal to farmers The enactment of the three farm laws by the Central Government has triggered agitations by farmers’ organisations and a spate of counters, specially from non-NDA ruled States. Their main worry is that growers won’t get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on sales made outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis (markets). All this, when it is well-known that under the APMC, agriculturists are already getting a raw deal. The constitutional validity of the farm laws has been challenged in the Supreme Court, too, with the Chhattisgarh Government arguing that these have in effect repealed the...
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