Introduction

 India is an agricultural country. Over 70% of India’s population is directly or indirectly concerned with agriculture-related work. Because of the diligence of these farmers, we can sit and eat in peace. These farmers sustain the whole country; however, it’s a tragic truth that they’re grappling with starvation. The Indian law on Farmers’ Rights is considered successful at least partially by many stakeholders. Now, farmers’ rights are being acknowledged as a global concern, yet a consensus on implementing Farmer’s Rights remains vague. Internationally, it is accepted to a certain extent that farmers are crucial for our nation’s social and political fabric of society and need the Government’s support. India is among the first countries in the world to have passed legislation granting Farmer’s Rights in the form of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act, 2001 (PPVFR). India’s law is unique as it simultaneously attempts to establish breeders’ and farmers’ rights and protect their interests. Lately, the Central Government has established agricultural bills for the farmers’ advantage and the farm sector. Farmers and some state governments are opposing their opinion on these agrarian bills. Farmers across the country have protested against these bills by taking them to the streets. Indian Government introduced the Agriculture Bill in Sept 2020 by our President Ram Nath Kovind approved the three agriculture bills that the Indian Parliament passed.

Farm bill 2020

 In September 2020, India’s President gave assent to three farm bills passed by the Parliament. 

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, will allow barrier-free trade in agriculture produce outside the notified APMC ( Agricultural Produce Market Committee). With this bill’s help, the state will not impose barrier taxes on sale and purchase outside the Mandis and give freedom to sell their produce at a fair price. Yet, this bill is beneficial for big farmers as they have more choices and can start selling to private. However, farmer’s income will solely depend upon the ups and downs of the market.

 The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, is a legal agreement between the farmer and the business owner (contract farming). The agreement will outline the condition for the production of farm products and their delivery requirement (which means the farmer agrees to supply products based on the buyer’s quality standards). The bill’s motive is to prevent the buyer’s change of thought and any form of exploitation. It works as a ”dispute settlement mechanism” between the buyer and the farmer.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 controls the production, supply, and distribution of certain food commodities. With the help of these laws, the central Government can include new commodities when its need arises. They can also take them off the list once the situation improves. The Government believes the new laws will provide farmers with more option, with competition leading to better prices and ushering in a surge of private investment in agricultural marketing, processing, and infrastructure.

Scenario before farm bill 2020 – 

Before the bill was passed, the farm produce was bought and sold primarily in the APMC’s ( state government-regulated markets). Only license traders can buy from APMCs. APMC physically requires farmers to bring their produce to the market, and that was a problem because farmers couldn’t afford transportation to bring it to the market and take it back. So the farmers who couldn’t go to the APMC’s would then sell it to a trader at whatever price they could afford. Before the bill was passed, the APMCs protect the small farmers because it’s a regulated space. There is a licensed trader, and there’s someone to complain regarding the concerns of the farmers. But over the period of time, APMCs have become a monopoly. Corruption started to occur, and middlemen and traders began to rule the roost. 

Farmer’s concern and demand –

• The Government affirms that the APMC system is flawed, and the only way to fix it to allow the farmers to direct taxes to the private sector. To enable private sectors to set up similar mandis across the country. The farmers fear that if the APMCs get wiped out, the farmers will effectively leave only at the private sectors’ mercy if the private sector begins to drive down the prices and has no option to lean on their concerns.

• APMC is where the farmers get their MSP (minimum support price). Farmers argue that if this law weakens APMC over a period of time and if the APMC shutdown, the MSP will go down with them. Because technically, a private sector Mandis is under no obligation to offer the MSP, and there’s no guarantee.

• 80% of farmers in our countries are small farmers (they have a small portion of land comparatively), so the farmers fear that they will not be able to have bargaining power against the corporates on the legal front.

• The salesmen raise the price of fruits/vegetables and sell them at higher prices to consumers, whereas farmers receive only a thin amount. Farmers should have ownership rights, but it is not easy to produce new varieties. And if money and opportunity are provided sufficiently by the Government, farmers can also invent and innovate. Farmers demand a law that is put in place that will guarantee payments from the buyers through intermediaries. Middlemen are also making money by selling the product for more than its purchase price.

• The law specifies that no one can file a case about this law’s specification against either the Central/state government or any state/central government officers. Farmers say that the problem with it is it takes away their fundamental rights to approach the courts.

• Farmers argue that these laws are throwing them to the wolves, the private sector. The private sectors are under no obligation to look after the farmers’ welfare. The private sector’s duty fundamentally is to its shareholders and its profits.

 Conclusion 

Imagine a situation where are the basic necessity of life (one that we call food, shelter, clothing) is circumvented by Government, what havoc and disturbance it can bring to society. As a society, we need to understand that the farmers act as a fundamental backbone of our Indian economy. And in this pandemic where everyone is struggling with their problems, the farmers were the ones who kept on producing, cultivating essential crops for running the economy and successfully transporting them to mandis.  These three 3 acts are revolutionary if the Government addresses the loopholes. The loopholes are quite concerning, and the Government should discuss the same with farmers to be more efficient and effective. The Government should form a proper contract farming mechanism so big rapacious corporates do not exploit any farmers. To solve conflicts between farmers and traders. The Government of india should establish a separate regulatory body rather than a Sub-Divisional Magistrate. The MSP system is very flawed, and even though the Government recently said that they are not repealing MSP, they still need to address the fact that only 6% of Farmers of our are getting benefits. The Government should Implement this scheme more efficiently and effectively by spreading awareness with Gram panchayat’s help so that the small farmers will know about this and get the benefit. Farmers in our country are not united. It would be better if farmers form a nationwide group or local groups to deal with big traders. More than ever, Effective implementation from the Government is necessary. 

References

• http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/PassedLoksabha/113_2020_LS_Eng.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_(Empowerment_and_Protection)_Agreement_on_Price_Assurance_and_Farm_Services_Act,_2020
• https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/explained-what-the-new-farm-bills-are-all-about-and-why-being-opposed/2086681/
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344508649_Impact_of_India’s_New_Farm_Act_2020_on_Farmers_and_Markets/link/5f7d6dfda6fdccfd7b4ca7d1/download
• https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/three-farm-bills