BELIEVE (do not flummox), the Govt of India on the Farmers’ Bills 2020

Let me start the discussion with the experience of purchasing custard apple from the farm producer and its correlations with exploitation to the farmers.

I and my husband were coming from our native place in Sundergarh to the town of Rourkela. En route, in a place called Kutra, we found some local sellers are selling custard apples of one of the rare and wild varieties. I asked my husband to stop the vehicle and went to purchase some of these from the seller. The rate per piece was one buck. I purchased about 100 pieces and paid the seller girl Rs.110, i.e. a small bonus over the sales price. The simpleton seller, a she, was reluctant to keep the extra bucks, but on insistence she kept it. The cost per piece of the custard apple in my city was Rs.10, i.e. 10 times more than the price accepted happily by the local seller. 

The next month I happened to pass through the same route while on my way to Sambalpur. I was expecting to see the same sellers to purchase some more custard apples for my family. I was happy to trace them but when I went for the purchase, a group of traders told me that they already have purchased the whole lot. Out of curiosity, I asked the seller about the price at which she sold it to the traders. I was aghast to find that it was traded at Rs.0.75 per piece.

The trader will sell them at Rs.10 per piece.

Is it not exploitation to the farmers and the vegetable growers? Despite the soil and toil, the farmers do not get a decent price but traders make a windfall.

Sometimes the heart cries out to see such disparity just because no one so far has thought to bring in policy and make farmers get the correct price for their produces. The key corrections that need to be made to come over are to have:

    *  barrier-free trade in agricultural produce;

    *  empower farmers to engage with investors of their choice;

  *  continuous commitment to championing the cause of welfare of the farmers of India;

  *  creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to the sale and purchase of farmers' produce;

    *  facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels;

   *  barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmers' produce;

    *  provide a facilitative framework for electronic trading;

    *  APMC: Agricultural Produce Market Committee;

    *  RMC: Regulated Market Committees

   (APMC and RMC for the purpose of regulation of marketing of notified agricultural produce and livestock in physical, electronic or other such modes.)

Very aptly all these points have been taken care of by the Government of India, under the visionary leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. The GoI has passed three bills, namely, The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

There should not be an iota of doubt that the present three bills passed in this week by The government of India are boon to the farmers.

If we believe that competition brings in quality and cost on the same platform then we all Indians should support the heart and soul to these three bills. The bills are, The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The gist from the three bills are:

The bill, The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, seeks to provide for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to the sale and purchase of farmers' produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmers' produce outside physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under various State agricultural produce market legislations; to provide a facilitative framework for electronic trading and for matters connected therewith or incidental there to.

The bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, seeks to provide for a national framework on farming agreements that protect and empower farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters, or large retailers for farm services and sale of future farming produce at a mutually agreed remunerative price framework in a fair and transparent manner and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The bill, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. This will remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations. The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute, and supply will lead to harnessing economies of scale and attract private sector/foreign direct investment into the agriculture sector.

Implementations of these three bills will ELIMINATE such negatives as:

Ø  1. Farmers in India will no longer suffer from any restrictions as earlier was there in the forms of APMC and RMC, in marketing their produce.

Ø 2. Farmers will not have to sell their produce only to registered licensees of the State Governments.

Ø  3. The interstate movement of produces of the farmers will open more choices for the farmer, and reduce marketing costs for the farmers and help them in getting better prices.

Ø  4. It will also help farmers of regions with surplus produce to get better prices and consumers of regions with shortages, lower prices.

Ø  5. This legislation will transfer the risk of market unpredictability from the farmer to the sponsor and also enable the farmer to access modern technology and better inputs.

Ø  6. It will reduce the cost of marketing and improve the income of farmers.

Ø 7. Farmers will engage in direct marketing thereby eliminating intermediaries resulting in full realization of price.

Ø  8. Farmers have been provided with adequate protection. Effective dispute resolution mechanism has been provided for with clear timelines for redressal.

Ø  9. The legislation will help drive up investment in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain.

Ø  10. It will help both farmers and consumers while bringing in price stability.

Ø  11. It will create competitive market environment and also prevent wastage of agri-produce that happens due to a lack of storage facilities.

In conclusion, it would be a request to all the citizens of India to support the present government of India. Do not listen to the fake statements of distracters. The distracters are trying to confuse us for their self and selfish benefits.