#Have a Look Agriculture Bill 2020 with pro and cons.
As we all know about three agriculture bills are passed in parliament and also get consent from The President of India now these three bills become Agriculture Act 2020 now. So we will use act instead of bill. These three acts are:-
- The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020.
Pro:-
- This new act will create a free ecosystem for the farmer and the trader to sell and purchase farm-produce.
- This new act will promoting inter and intra state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations.
- This act also promoting the electronic trading in transection platform.
- With this act farmer will engage with direct marketing by eliminating intermediaries resulting in full realization of price.
Cons/Doubts:-
.With is Act the procurement of the Minimum Selling Price (MSP)will stop. Because this is not define in the act anywhere.
. If the farmers start selling their crops other than mandis then the Agricultural produce market committee(APMC) mandi system will demolish.
. We can not know the future of government electronic trading portal like e-NAM.
2.The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Bill, 2020.
This Act is define a buyer as individuals, partnership firms ,limited liability group ,companies and societies who may enter into agreements with farmer to purchase the farming produce.
Pros:-
a).The Ordinance provides for a farming agreement between a farmer and a buyer prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce. The minimum period of an agreement will be one crop season, or one production cycle of livestock. The maximum period is five years, unless the production cycle is more than five years.
b). With his act farmer will become familiar with new technology of fertilization, seeds and other inputs.
c). This will increase the farmers incomes and less the marketing.
d). This act requires a farming agreement to provide for conciliation board( comprising of representatives of parties to agreement and a conciliation process for settlement of disputes. At first all disputes must be referred to the board of resolution. If the board is unable to resolve the dispute after 30 days. Then they can approach to the Sub-divisional Magistrate(SDM). They can appeal to an Appellate Authority( presided by collector or additional collector) against decisions of the SDM. After that Appellate Authority and SDM will be required to dispose the dispute within 30 days from the receipt of application.
Cons:-
a). With this act the farmers will be under pressure because they will not able to determine the price of their crops.
b). On their own farming fields, farmers will become laborers under the companies.
c). In case of dispute the big companies will get benefits.
3. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
Under the essential commodities act, 1955 empowers the center govt. to designated certain commodities(such as food items, fertilizer and petroleum products) as essential commodities. With this govt. will prohibit the production, trade, distribution and commerce of such essential commodities.
Pros:-
a). Under this Act the central govt. may regulate the supply of certain food items including cereals, pulses, potatoes, onions, edible oilseeds and oils, under only extraordinary circumstance. These includes:1. wars 2.famine 3. extraordinary price increases and 4. natural calamity of nature.
b). under this Act requires that imposition of any stock limit on agriculture produce must be based on price trigger. A stock limit may be imposed if 1. a 100% increase in retail price of horticulture produce 2. a 50% increase in the retail price of non-perishable agriculture food items. The increase will be calculated over the price prevailing immediately preceding 12 months or average retail price of the last 5 years, whichever is lower.
c). This move is expected to attract private investment in the value chain of commodities removed from the list of essential such as cereals, pulses, potatoes, onions, edible oilseeds and oils.
d). This act is originally protect the interests of consumers by checking illegal trade practices such as hoarding.
e). To remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. It will do away with the imposition of stockholding limits on such items except under “extraordinary circumstances” like war.
Cons:-
a). This act would make it very difficult for the States to check black-marketing of goods.
b). Foodstuffs like pulses, onions and edible oil are part of a common man’s daily essential commodities. The government not regulating the supply of such food items means the chances of hoarding are high.
These days we all are hearing the clamour of farmers in the states like Punjab and Haryana etc.
Farmer’s Demands:-
1.The center govt. should be demolished these three acts.
2. The Loans of the farmers be cleared.
3.The APMC mandi system to remain in place.
4.A law should be made for MSP to be at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production and if the MSP is not paid, it should be a punishable crime.
5. A law should be put in place that guarantee payment from the buyers through middleman that has always been the norms to ensure that banks don’t deduct the money in the name of loan recovery.
