FARM BILLS 2020

 Quote " In winter's chill or summer's heat... A farmer works so the world can eat" Unquote. 

With farmers taking to the streets, Dharti Mata ki Jai slogans being chanted fervorously in unison, multiple talks between the government and the farmers miserably failing, to the ruckus on The Republic Day, the Farm bills 2020 have become a subject of International scrutiny.

The Farm Bills 2020 are trifurcated into 3 bills- 1) The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 

2) The Farmers ( Empowerment and protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020.

3) The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

The Central Government, led by BJP, singlehandedly passed these Bills in September 2020, with the aim to revolutionize the agrarian sector and doubling the income of the farmers by 2022. 

Much to everyone's surprise, passing of these bills, begot a farrago of opinions, contestations, flak, widespread dire protests and flared up questions regarding survival of the disgruntled farmers. 

The 1st bill, Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce Bill 2020, has a myriad of provisions which will cause a sea change between the relationship of a farmer and a trader. It promises to give freedom of sale and purchase of agri produce to the farmer and the trader, begets border fluidity i.e. now farmers can sell their produce across the country without restrictions, abolishes levy or taxes on such trade and eliminates intermediaries which will lead to full realization of price.  

The bill though appears to give freedom of trade to the farmers has begot heavy skepticism from the farmers. They are fearfully certain that this bill will eventually lead to abolishment of State Regulated APMC ( Agricultural Produce Market Committee) or Mandis, which will ambush them to sell their produce at wee prices to companies. And, also that this will lead to abolishment of MSP. Though the government is giving reassurances that they will not abolish MSP and Mandis, these acts look propitious enough, to eventually lead to no state regulation which will again leave farmers in impoverished states under the captilastic control of corporates. 

The 2nd Bill, The Farmers ( Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, focuses majorly on Contract Farming. The Bill encourages farmers to practice contract farming with private firms and enterprises on pre decided prices, which will shield the farmers from the price fluctuations in the market. 

Though this bill assures to give farmers full power in bargaining, it appears to be an absolute farce, which will only fill pockets of the corporates. 

In India, 86% of the farmers are small and marginal. The Bill miserably flunks to address the argument that how will these poor farmers negotiate and bargain prices for their produce with humongous corporates, who have full fledged trade analysts team to decide best prices for them. This will lead to excessive exploitation of the farmers by the private companies. And, even if we look at the rose tinted side that companies will augment impetus to modern technology and better inputs for farmers with hope for better produce, still the betterment of the farmers, unreasonably depends on the will and mercy of private companies. Also, the provision of dispute mechanism has been given to the local judiciary i.e. District Magistrate, who are already jam-packed with administrative work.

The 3rd Act, Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 focuses on removal of items from the list of the essential commodities. It aims to remove excessive regulatory interference of the state, which will further fuel in investments in Cold Storages. This act bolsters hoarding of the essential commodities by Businessmen and Corporates. A hefty argument against this provision is that it would lead to procuring of commodities from farmers in off seasons at low prices by big companies and corporates and hoarding them in personally set-up cold storages and eventually selling them at higher prices. This Act is a dire and precarious measure which will not only exploit the farmers, but also would flare up disgruntled consumers who would have to buy everyday commodities at exorbitant prices.

After having a deductive study of the Farm Bills, 2020, I would pan out them to be documents drafted with rose-tinted, corporate favouring and a parochial approach. These Bills appear to be a farce because though they appear very revolutionizing they can only bring the precepts into practice, provided implemented with absolute precision, living no room for mismanagement. This appears very utopian because farmers in India are so underprivileged, that most of them don't even get to understand the laws. 

Educating and equipping the farmers with necessary vigilance and knowledge,regarding their rights, facilities and information about the redressal system should have been a prerequisite for the triumph of these laws. 

This very law which aims to empower the farmer can drag them further into their impoverished states and would leave their fate on the mercy of the private companies. 

The Agrarian sector is increasingly becoming a political tool and weapon, being mercilessly used by political parties to get into power. The farmer's protests have been lambasted on the grounds that they become aggressive and violent on Republic Day. Yes, a faction of it can have funded Khalistani elements, but through and through it can't be overlooked, as it talks about the survival of the very fundamental agrarian sector of India.

To those who work in Acres, Not in Hours.

We Thank you, Big time.