IN THE FARM BILLS THERE ARE THREE ACTS.
1. The farmers produce trade and commerce Act 2020
If we go back in the history the farmers use to suffer from the big retailers and zamindars because at that time there were no proper market for agriculture products and there were no proper rule for the price of crops. Since there were no rules the farmers were hardly able to recover the expenses of their growth. So during 1960s many states started APMC(agriculture produce market committee) . APMC had not only provided a trading place for the Farmers but also they provided MSP (Minimum support price) for each crop to be sold in the mandis.
Since the APMC was introduced many problems of farmers were eradicated but there were some loopholes. If farmers are getting a fixed price through MSP and APMC so why we used to see pictures like this
Farmers used to throw there products when they don't get the prices which will recover their expenses for growing the crops. This show APMC Mandis are not helping farmers to get the adequate price.
Therefore government have introduced this act which allow the farmers to sell the there products outside the APMC Mandis if they get a better price for there crops. And if farmers sell their crops outside the mandis there will be no involvement of any third party.
Reason why farmers are against this act.
In the free market there will be no MSP or any assured price. At the beginning the farmers will sell there goods to the industries at very high price which will attract every farmers to the free market which lead to abolition of mandis because of better price but when the mandis will come to an end then the customer can demand any price from farmers as there will be no assured prices offered in the free market.
This are the concerns of the farmers.
2. Farmers agreement on price assurance act 2020
According to this act farmers can sign a legal framework with the companies to go in contract farming untill now there were no legal frameworks available for contact farming.
By this act farmers can go into a contract with the companies That they can sell the crops produced to them at a pre agreed prices.
Reason farmers are against this act.
Farmers are Concerned that what if the company denies to buy the crops , then they will have no potential buyer for such a large harvest and they have to sell the harvest in much lower price at open market. In Punjab many Farmers have faced same issue with some companies like PepsiCo when they had done contract farming.
But government have assured that they will setup a defense mechanism if there is dispute between farmers and the company.
3. Essential Commodities Act 2020
Under this act the government will try to stop the black marketing and hoarding of the crops. Because in the past we had seen many times the stockpiling of the goods which create fake supply and demand in the market which help many people to manipulate the price.
By introducing this act government can Deregulate the production, storage and sale of several food items including cereals, pulses, edible oils and onions, except in the case of extraordinary circumstances. The Act provides for the control of supply and distribution of any good deemed “essential”. The list of items under the Act includes drugs, fertilisers, edible oils and petroleum products. The Act prohibits hoarding or stockpiling of certain products so as to protect consumers from irrational spikes in prices. Case in point face masks and hand sanitizer were brought under the purview of this Act after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reason farmers are against this act
This effectively legalises hoarding, which can be disastrous for the prices of critical items like vegetables and pulses.
- Here too, large corporates are better equipped to hoard and stockpile since they have better storage facilities, unlike the average farmer or NGO.
- The price limits that have been set are too high and thus likely to be triggered very rarely, if at all.
The farmers were protesting against the bill from the time it was introduced but our mainstream media have never covered the protests untill the farmers went to borders of Delhi and Punjab. Since many people have stand with the farmers and have shown there supports to them there were also some people who are trying to defame them.
The protesters were peaceful for 2 months but during the republic day of India the protest turn into a violent protest when many Farmers along with thousand of tractors Marched into the capital of India and entered the national monument red fort and hoisted the flag of nishan sahib . During republic day the protesters and police forces have clashed with each other and many people were injured. The clashes continued among the Farmers and police in the following days and there was a Bomb blast on 29 the January in 2020 near Israeli embassy and the current situation in Delhi is very tensed.
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