FARM BILL, 2020 - Kritika Bhansali

FARM BILL, 2020

The government has passed three laws i.e., the three farm bill, 2020. The main point of the bill are-

1. Protection and facilities act 2020 – In the first law it is given the freedom to the farmer to sell his or her product to outside the mandies i.e., Agriculture product market committee and have the benefit of exemption of the tax which he is giving in the mandies.

2. Contract farming act, 2020- The second law is talking about contract farming and direct farming and the risk related to this will bear by the private company not the farmer. It will reduce cost of marketing and improve income of farmers

3. Essential commodities act,2020-the third agriculture reform bill with the provision to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds , edible oil , onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities.

FARMER v/s GOVERNMENT

WHO IS RIGHT? THE FARMERS OR THE GOVERNMENT?

· According to farmers after implementation of the three bills there is the end of APMC and MSP but in the entire bill no where it is mention that after the act passed there will be end of APMC and MSP. So the speculation is right or wrong? as now the farmer are directly sell the product to APMC and pay tax to the state govt and the new law states that we will provide new market with APMC so the new market for sustaining compete with APMC So to attract the farmer the private company for some time offer good price in comparison to the market price or to the mandies which will benefit the farmers but speculation says when the market flourish and if the 50% of the farmers adopt the new market then it lead to shut down of the Mandies as it survival depend on the tax which the farmer pay and it affect the farmer as only APMC provide the minimum support price to the farmers Speculation also states that the shutdown of the APMC will lead monopoly of the private company which is not fair for the farmer.

In reply of the above argument the government said in rajya sabha that we will give you the written assurance that MSP will remain there in future. And the thing about the closing of APMC is in the hand of state government and the state govt also have power to regulate the private market and take the tax according to the situation and according to the government there is no chance of the shutdown of APMC and MSP

· Farmers also state that in the 2nd bill the government gave opportunities to the farmer to contract farming but in any condition for example climate condition, the contract is not fulfil by the farmer then the private company may cease the land of the farmers

In reply of the above contention the government said in lieu of the same we have made the empowerment and protection act in which the section 8 clearly state that by any reason there will be no effect on the transfer of land by sale lease and mortgage will not be allowed.

· The third contention of the farmer is that if there is any grievance then they have the only option to go to the SDM and have no right to go to approach to the civil court for the same.

In respond of the above problem government said will make provision for appeal to courts

· The fourth thing which said by the farmers that no consultation of the farmer before enacting these laws. It also alter the subsidiary and penalty for stubble burning

In reply of the above the government state that consultation going on for 2 decades before enacting these laws. There will be no change in the subsidiaries for the farmers and for stubble burning the government is ready to resolve the farmers concerns

CONCLUSION

So the passing of the three bills provide opportunities to the farmer to sell their product across states and empower them to turn into traders of their own product. The intention to legislate the three bill is to give freedom to the farmer and trader to be free from choice of sale and the purchase of agricultural product and remove the barrier of inter or intra state or E- transaction. So the will provide the bigger plate form to the farmers which help him to get desired price of the goods. As farmer the heart of the nation and their upliftment help in reshaping the economy and is the duty of the government to support the farmer for the same by legislating the laws which protect the interest of the farmer and for the same they have to pass the new law which include the surety of minimum support price and the APMC

REFERENCE

https://blog.finology.in/recent-updates/farm-bill-2020-pros-and-cons