Even as the process of constitution of farmers coordination committees at village and mandal levels has been speeded up, the Government is yet to give clarity on the structure and functions of the apex committee that would be constituted at the State-level.
Agriculture Department officials are clueless on whether the proposed State-level committee would be constituted as a cooperative society or a corporation incorporated under the Companies Act. Officials said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was exploring various options relating to the district-level and apex committees as the government had in principle decided to allow the panel to mobilise external borrowings.
Cautious approach
The Chief Minister is said to have decided to adopt a cautious approach into the issue after the High Court struck down Karshaka Parishad, an initiative by the erstwhile TDP government headed by late N.T. Rama Rao. Sources said Mr. Rao had asked senior officials to study the entire case thoroughly and identify reasons that led to the court negating the scope for floating such an apex body.
The government is said to be having a second thoughts on invoking provisions under the Cooperative Societies Act as it would make election of the members mandatory. Moreover, with the apex committee likely to be given powers to raise over ₹ 5,000 crore that could be utilised as market intervention fund as and when needed, it is considering the option of incorporating the State level body under the Companies Act which would facilitate mobilisation of funds.
Advisory body
A brainchild of the Chief Minister, the farmers coordination committees have been constituted to advise officials concerned in the matters relating to the land survey as also fix minimum support prices for the farmers’ produce besides providing advice on the choice of the crops suited for the particular area. The government took a decision to constitute the committees following the Chief Minister’s decision to provide input assistance of ₹ 4,000 an acre each season to eligible farmers and these panels were provided with corpus fund of ₹ 500 crore.
The constitution of the committees at the village-level is almost completed barring cases where villages close to urban centres did not find the required number of farmers to be nominated to the committees. “Committees for more than 90 % of the 559 mandals have also been constituted. We are hopeful that the Chief Minister will convene a meeting soon to give clarity on the organisation and scope for the district and state level bodies,” a senior official said.