Raman Suri
Now that protesting farmer unions have decided to resume their dialogue with the Union Government on December 30, it is expected that the ice will be broken and an amicable solution will be hammered out between the two sides. This proposal has come after Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself assured the agitating farmers that crops, and not the farms, will be sold in open markets and new farm laws are aimed at bringing revolution in the agriculture sector thereby enhancing income of farmers.
The Prime Minister had also categorically said that anything that still irked farmers will be discussed and deliberated upon on the table. From this onwards, there seems to be no justification in farmers continuing their agitation unless it’s serving the interests of opposition leaders who have multiple agendas in their minds including re-establishing their lost ground. There’s no denying of the fact that it was the opposition which had earlier tried to stall the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by creating Shaheen Bagh sit in, and are now pushing farmers’ agitation to extreme ends only to grind their own axe.
This is evident from the fact that if multiple talks, invitations and an assurance from the horse’s mouth are not sufficient to come on tables then there’s something more fishy that is cooking in the garb of farmers’ agitation. It is baseless to completely repeal the three reformative farm laws, but a deliberation can enable the government to understand farmers’ concerns and make certain amendments if needed and simultaneously farmers can also put forth their just and genuine concerns and air their fears with regards to the new laws.
To show its sincerity, the Union Government has released over Rs 18,000 crore towards 9 crore farmer families under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi’ (PM-KISAN) at the push of a button. Over rupees one lakh crore business has already taken place at one thousand mandis connected online after the enactment of farm laws. To add to this, invitation has been extended to farmers who had agreed on the same. This is a positive development that has taken place in just two days and needs to be pursued vigorously to end the impasse.
The new farm laws have already started helping farmers end middlemen, have a direct access to mandis and make more money than what they earlier used to. The new act enables farmers to sell their produce outside the APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) market and there will be no tax on such trade which will give a higher price to the farmers. It also enables them to sell their crops anywhere in India, wherever they get better prices for the produce.
This brings an end to middlemen, thus enabling farmers to ask for desired price for their produce as per the quality and standard. The new system also brings an end to “Licence Raj” as anyone having a PAN card or any other document notified by the Central government can join this trade, giving farmers an option to choose from amongst the multiple buyers and get the desired price for their crops.
The apprehension of farmers that private players will buy their land or farms has categorically been ruled out stating that it will be the crop and not the land for which the private player and farmer will enter into a contract. Another apprehension that APMC mandis will be shut down forcing farmers to sell their produce to private players at the latter’sdesired price also stands ruled out as no Mandi will be shut. The farmers who believe that in absence of a legal system the disputes to be settled at Sub-Divisional Magistrate level can be biased have been asked to talk and workout on other modalities.
While the law fixes heavy penalties on private players for violation of rules and regulations, farmers are at their sweet will to either sell their produce in open market or in the mandis. Farmers’ apprehensions that they will be exposed to the risk of fraud due to the entry of people without license or registration must also know that only PAN card or other such legal document holders will be entitled to deal with them and most importantly, unless a farmer doesn’t agree on terms and conditions he can’t be roped into any agreement forcibly.
The farmers must also understand that the government has opened their markets and enhanced their domain to entire India. It is only farmers’ choice to sell their produce either in APMC mandis, in any state or through online mode. This means that there will be a competition amongst the buyers, and farmers will definitely get higher prices for their produce. Instead of enabling opposition to fire salvos from their shoulders, farmers must come on table, talk to the government, discuss all laws and put to use the laws for at least one year to assess their pros and cons.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has assured that these laws are going to revolutionise the farming sector and by ending middlemen, they will enable farmers to enhance their income, then there’s no harm in giving these laws a chance and assessing for themselves how beneficial or detrimental are these new farm laws. When the farmers will get desired prices for their crops as per the quality, they won’t be required to spend money on marketing or transportation, and will thus save a lot of money.
It will only be the states which will be losing money as ‘mandi fees’, if farmers will be selling their produce outside registered APMC markets. Inter-state or intra-state or even online sale will bar commission agents from interfering into the farmers’ choices of buyers, thus helping farmers get rid of all local taxes. While future farm produce will be sold at a pre-agreed price between farmer and buyer, the entire risk of crop getting damaged will be shifted to the buyer. This is another win-win situation for the farmer.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 also removes commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities, which means there will be no limit on stockholdings except in war like situation. This will not only help in buying more but also save grains from getting destroyed. This will also result in strengthening of farm infrastructure including cold storage chains.
Any farmer, under the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, will have written contracts which will protect them if the buyer tries to cheat them.The farmers can walk out of contract anytime they feel cheated or sabotaged. Those who believe that buyers on the pretext of poor quality of crop can backtrack must understand that still it’s the farmer who will take the last call.
Meanwhile, farmers who are the backbone of a country and especially Punjab which is known as the food basket of India, must not allow politicians to block their way to talks. Nothing short of a dialogue will help them understand the laws, deliberate upon them, negotiate on shortcomings if any and then redress their grievances. Union Ministers have already held multiple rounds of talks with farmers and the fresh ones must be aimed at resolving the issue and not making it more complex.
The farmers have also been given liberty to enter into an agreement for a maximum period of five years, which means any displeasure in the agreement can enable farmers to not renew the contract. The new Farm Laws 2020 also state that all the dues of the farmers must be cleared within three days of procurement, failing which the farmer can lodge a complaint. Keeping in view these reformative laws, farmers must be helped to resolve their issues and not used as gunpowder to settle scores as opposition is trying to do. It is hoped that the next round of talks will be held with an open mind and not with pre-decided agendas.
(The author is Executive Member BJP J&K)
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