DMK moves SC over Grama Sabha

CHENNAI: After launching a scathing attack against BJP-led Centre over NEET, EWS quota, OBC reservation in All India Quota for UG medical admission, DMK has now chosen the recently passed farm laws for targeting the saffron party. The DMK, which held statewide demonstrations against the farm bills last week, has filed a writ petition in Supreme Court seeking to declare the new laws unconstitutional citing lack of legislative competence of the Centre on the subject of agriculture. 

DMK MP Siva in a petition said the laws will result in exploitation of farmers at the hands of corporate companies as the Centre removed the provisions of minimum support price.

He said laws are taking away the basic rights and safeguards provided to the farmers through various state legislations. The three laws – Essential Commodities (Amendment) ordinance 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act – were passed recently.   

PR Pandian, president, Tamil Nadu All Farmers’ Associations’ Coordination Committee said the Prime Minister Modi claimed that he only implemented the MS Swaminathan committee report to safeguard in the interest of farmers.

“If so, the minimum support price for agriculture products should have been fixed adding the average price for production and 50% of the production cost. In the absence of provisions of MSP, the farmers will have no say over the prices during surplus cultivation and disasters," Pandian added that farmers have been demanding government’s intervention while entering into agreements with private companies.

“Small farmers cannot fight against the giant corporate companies in courts, if they fail to honour contract agreement. We wanted to enter an agreement through governments. The permission for online trading also strips the protection given to farmers under state legislations,” added Pandian.

However, Tharasu Shyam, political commentator who is also a retired official from State agriculture department opined that the farm laws will not have any impact as the condition in the State was completely different from that of Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

“For more than 30 years sugar farmers have been entering into agreement with mill owners for farming sugarcane. Farmers in Peravurani, Pudukottai and few other delta regions migrated to cash crops from paddy long back due to water scarcity. In our State, farmers have got both options to sell the produce through regulated markets or through other means, but in Punjab agro products can only be sold through ‘Mandis’, which are politically controlled."

Shyam said DMK opposes the bills for political reasons. “DMK wanted to keep the anti-Modi and anti-BJP mood alive till the assembly elections. It may be Stalin’s attempt to keep him in the limelight of national politics for the reasons known to him."

The key provisions which are opposed by farmers are lack of provisions for minimum support price, permission for online trading of products, contract farming which allows farmers to enter into an agreement with companies and agreement for selling the products through private markets. Notably, the BJP’s ally ruling AIADMK government openly supported the bills.