Farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have gone on 'Delhi Cooch' against three new agricultural laws made by Kendra. If they are stopped on the Delhi-Haryana border, a ruckus has started. The farmer is determined and he is trying to move forward. Let us know about the three agricultural laws which are opposed:
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
This law provides for the removal of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oil, onion potatoes from the list of essential commodities. It is believed that the provisions of the law will enable farmers to get the right price as competition in the market will increase. Please tell that this law of the year 1955 has been amended.
The main objective of this law is to control the hoarding of essential commodities, controlling their production, supply, and prices. Please tell that from time to time many things have been added to the list of essential items. Like masks in the Corona period, sanitizers have been added to essential items.
Why is there a protest?
Farmers' organizations allege that with the implementation of the new law, the agricultural sector will also fall into the hands of the capitalists or corporate houses and the farmers will suffer. According to the new bill, the government will control the supply of essential commodities only in the most extraordinary circumstances. These conditions can be famine, war, unexpected price rise, or a serious natural disaster.
The new law mentions that action will be taken on the hoarding of these things and agricultural products on the basis of prices. The government will issue orders for this when the prices of vegetables and fruits are more than 100 percent. Or the price of non-perishable food grains will increase by up to 50 percent.
Agricultural Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
Under this law, the farmer can sell his produce outside the APMC i.e. Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee. This bill states that an ecosystem will be created in the country where farmers and traders will have the freedom to sell crops outside the market. The provisions envisage the promotion of trade within the state and between the two states. It has been said to reduce expenditure on marketing and transportation.
According to the new law, farmers or their buyers will not have to pay any fees to the mandis. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 17 September.
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Price Assurance and Agreement on Agricultural Services Act, 2020
The main objective of this law is to get farmers a fixed price for their crops. Under this, a farmer can compromise with a trader before he can grow the crop, this agreement includes the price of the crop, the quality of the crop, and how much quantity and how fertilizer will be used.
According to the law, the farmer will have to pay two-thirds of the amount at the time of delivery of the crop and the remaining money will have to be paid within 30 days. It also has a provision that the merchant will be responsible for raising the crop from the field, if any one party breaks the agreement, then a penalty will be imposed on it.
These laws empower farmers to engage in the sale of agricultural products, farm services, agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers, large retailers, and exporters.
What are the main reasons for the protest?
The farmers mainly object to the second law, because the farmers in APMC get the minimum price for their crop, this law has not made it clear whether farmers outside the mandi will get the minimum price. In such a situation, in case of overproduction of a crop, traders may force the farmers to sell the crop at a lower price.
The farmers in APMC are relieved that they will not be cheated for their crops. While the new bill states that any merchant who also has a PAN card, can buy crops from the farmer.
The third reason is that the government is allowing the storage of crops, but farmers do not have enough resources to store vegetables or fruits. In such a situation, they can sell their crop to the traders at a low price and the traders can deposit their crop with them. Because the storage facility of the merchant will be good, then he will sell the crop in the market according to his own. Farmers say that by doing this, the right to fix the price of the crop will come to the big traders or companies and the role of the farmers will be negligible.