Bill 3: Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
The government enacted the Essential commodity Act (EC Act) in the year 1957. As per this, hoarding essential commodities listed under this act is a punishable crime. This includes not only food items but also medical and petrol related items. Usually, traders hoard these items for some time till the price rises and then gradually release those items to sell at high prices. Recently in March 2020, the government included masks and sanitizers also in this act but removed the same in July.
Now the government modified this act by removing commodities like cereals, pulses, onions, oilseeds, edible oil, etc from the essential commodities list. So now traders can hoard these items, create artificial demand, and sell. But still, there is some government regulation on this and the government can bring back these items in the list in case of war, famine, natural calamities, and the extraordinary rise in prices. The government also says it will interfere if the price increases by 50% (non-perishable) or 100% (perishable items).
Though the government says farmers can hoard these non-perishable items and sell whenever there is a good price, farmers are worried that big traders will buy cheap, hoard them and sell at high prices. In fact, it is the consumer who should be more worried about this bill than the farmers.
Another danger is this bill may lead to exporters, processors and traders hoard agricultural produce when prices are generally lower, and releasing it later when prices increase. This could undermine food security and lead to serious issues.
Other concerns of farmers:
Farmers allege all the proposed bills give the preference for corporate interests at the cost of farmers’ interests.
They say, in the absence of regulating mechanism like APMCs, Corporations will exploit farmers.
Concerns of political parties:
Agriculture is a state item and the center is taking away their power to control the agricultural produce by introducing ‘one nation one market’. Opposition alleges it is an interference of center in federal provisions of the constitution.
The center’s attempt to pass the Bills without proper consultation adds to the mistrust among various stakeholders including State governments.
Finally:
Even though the bill intends to help farmers, the provisions give an impression that it is pro-corporates. In the absence of a proper regulating mechanism, free markets do more harm than good to the weaker parties. This is proved because there are farmer suicides even in the most advanced countries because of the monopoly practices by certain corporates.
The government needs to ensure building proper institutional mechanisms to ensure the farmer is not exploited in the free markets. Also, cooperative federalism needs to be upheld by the center by involving the states in the consultation process and allay the fears of farmers.
-ZURAN (@CriticZuran)
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All the three parts are well written.
The bills are basically to help corporate houses only.
Even during BJP+TDP rule prior to 2004 they mooted contact and corporate agriculture. As part of this they destroyed the basic structure developed by Congress governments over years after entry of chemical input technology plus subsidised inputs plus irrigation/equipment components. They also established excellent seed corporations [government]; excellent extension services plus research linked to it. They also developed irrigation system to increase the production under chemical inputs. TDP+BJP during their two terms destroyed this and introduced watersheds + work for food and thousands of crores went in to their pockets. — all these I presented in daily news papers at that time. TDP introduced corporate farming in Kuppem [government funded project] but failed miserably. Here farmers became labourers in their own farm. With the mechanization and deep borewells the soil lost its potential plus neighbouring bores dried up. TDP wanted extend this to other districts — vision 2020. Also they brought in Genetically modified seeds — illegally entered in to India.
The bills say to overcome middlemen — in contract farming the main players are big unscruplus middlemen — without their role there is no contract farming. The government funding goes to those business houses.
I will leave here — I alredy, even before farmers entry to PM on these bills.
Dr. S. Jeevanda Reddy
You must have written
How contract farming rules in Congress ruled states were made during2004-14..(AP 2007)
Watersheds for food better than MGNREGA .. how it increased agri labour cost and congress leaders swindled crores of money.
I do not know how mechanisation leads to loss of soil potential .. as far as I know chemical and extensive irrigation leads to it .. you yourself mentioned who done it .. if bore wells are bad, aren’t they continued in Congress and our current Reddy Rajyam rule.
GM crops – if they are illegally entered why congress not banned during 2004-14 and area of coverage increased manifold during that period..
Stop crying on TDP BJP .. please present all facts .. don’t show caste bias
AP2007 – In February 2001, Dr. YSR as CLP leader sent DS, Congress President [Father of present BJP MP from Nizamabad] & Chinna Reddy, convenor Agri sector in CLP” along with his PA (Ravichander) to my house at ICRISAT Colony-I. They asked me whether it is possible to prepare “black paper” to counter White Paper released by TDP government on agriculture – vision 2020 – in fact on these I published already articles in daily newspapers. I agreed and prepared; and this was released in press gallery in Assembly premises on 15th February 2001, I was also invited to participate. On 16th February 2001 all print media highlighted this. Newstoday put the heading “Cong advocates cooperative farming” — — farmers were constrained to depend on private money lenders for the rest of financial assistance and at higher interest rate, thus entangled in debt trap, some of the farmers could find remedy by committing suicide — the steep hike in the power tariff and erratic power supply also contributed to the farmers misfortunes — In this backdrop, the solution lay not in corporate agriculture, but cooperative farming need the government to encourage the latter approach and ensure remunerative prices for agriculture produce. — Dr. YSR after becoming CM in 2004 asked a consultant to prepare the working paper on cooperative farming to introduce in AP. The consultant prepared the document with the heading cooperative farming but inside the text dealing on corporate/contract agriculture. Farmers opposed this. I wrote to Dr. YSR on this [Sakhsi published my letter] and Dr. YSR got the report “stopped” and said he will get it revised appropriately. Just at that time he was killed.
Watersheds for food better — at Sundarayya Vignana kendram organised a felicitation function to journalist Sainath attended by top editors of all news media. They openly said these programms helped people going by bi-cycle are now moving in BMW cars. When UPA government announced Rs. 7,000 crore to provide cellphones to agri-labour, I sent my observations on such programme. The government withdrew that proposal. I proposed direct payment of subsidy to beneficiaries [along with gas & kerosene]. They implemented this [Narendra Modi as PM informed parliament this helped saving around Rs. 50, 000 crores]. I along with few others suggested to include sorghum, peral millet & finger millet in the Food security bill in addition to rice & wheat, NAC accepted and included in the bill.
conti—
Dr. S. Jeevananda Reddy
cont— GM seed – since 1998 I am fighting against this. We filed a PIL in AP High Court in 2003 but our Advocate was purchased by seed companies. Agri minister of TDP government got a report on GM but he was side lined and central health minister [BJP government] spoke against GM food in Hyderabad and by the time he reached Delhi he was removed from the ministry. That shows high powerful is GM lobby in India. Even when one state declared organic farming state, but GM group lobbied with central government and introduced GM package for free. However, Dr. YSR compelled the GM seed companies to bring down the seed costs drastically. We fought Bt-Brinjal [food crop entry in to India]. Jairam Ramesh visited Hyderabad as MoEF minister of UPA government. He finally put on hold the entry but now BJP government allowed it.
sjreddy
You also must have written why vijayasai supported bills in toto while exposing congress hypocrisy as they have tried to do same in 2013 and included in their manifesto..
Must have mentioned TDP kanakamedala proposed amendments to bills in rajya sabha during debate as against our Reddy support in toto.
I released a “PRESS NOTE” On “three Agriculture Bills of a BJP Government” on 21st September 2020 in which I said: —
It is the “Dark Day” in the annals of Agriculture History. It is a greatest cruel Joke on Indian farmers. Also, it is the greatest shame on the part of Andhra Pradesh government, being an agrarian state (rice bowl of India) blindly supported the bills acting like a BJP agent in the Rajya Sabha. Dr. YSR name is tagged to every project – is it the policy of Dr. YSR? Do you think, in AP contract farming work? Every year lakhs of tons of rice has been exporting.
[I sent the letter — Dear Shri. Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy [Chief Minister of AP], dated 3rd September 2020 — The policy of metering agriculture pumps is a very bad policy; It is prelude to privatizing power sector by BJP Government at the Centre; AP Government wants to support this anti-peoples policy?]
The government has said these reforms will accelerate growth in the sector through private sector investment in building infrastructure and supply chains for farm produce in national and global markets – that means the government is going to weaken the existing system to depend upon private businessmen – already government announced one lakh crore Agriculture infra fund to help those business houses.
National Agricultural Policy ( NAP) of Government of India announced in 2000 envisaged that “Private sector participation in agriculture shall be promoted through contract farming and land leasing arrangement (corporate farming – TDP a partner of BJP proposed under vision 2020) to allow accelerated technology transfer, capital flow and assured markets for crop production. This was formalised by NITI AAYOG with draft model contract farming law titled Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2018. PM announced “With this farmers income will double”. Where is the Congress role in these bills?
Previous UPA government proposed in its 2011 budget to establish go-downs & food processing units at local level. These not only provide employment to locals but also help farmers to participate in this. It is not Contract farming. They presented higher year-wise steps in MSP and fertilizer supply by increasing the subsidy component. Anybody can see this from Agricultural Statistics.
TDP government propagated corporate agriculture before 2004 and after 2014 supported natural farming. They say zero budget farming which is not so.
Dr. S. Jeevananda Reddy