First of all, I am really sorry for being late with this topic and I apologize for the same. Recently, the government has come up with three ordinances related to agriculture which has angered the farmers of the nation. Especially the farmers of Punjab and Haryana are out on the streets to protest against these ordinances. Why are they protesting? What changes they want and why does it concern all of us? We'll find out today. The Bhartiya Kisan Union and other farmer organisations sought permission from the Haryana government for a protest rally, On the 10th of September, the BJP-led state government denied them the permission in view of the coronavirus pandemic and that a protest during this time would not be right, which even I agree to. But the farmers did not pay heed to the government and a rally was organized in which more than 100 farmers rode their tractors to the site of protest and hence some called it the "tractor protest" because farmers were protesting with tractors and were raising slogans of "Save the farmers, save the mandis" The situations turned violent in some places and it is alleged that the farmers were beaten by the police, But why are there demands to save the mandi in the slogans of "Save the farmers, save the mandis"? Let us first understand that?
INDIAN AGRICULTURE SYSTEM AND APMC
When the country got independence, the whole distribution system of the agricultural sector was dominated by the moneylenders and traders in the villages. The farmers had no means to sell their produce directly in the markets, they were dependent on the moneylenders and traders that in turn exploited the farmers. So, the farmers were perpetually in debt and had to face a lot of problems- which was not a great system. The government came up with an idea to solve this problem-APMC(Agriculture Produce Market Committee) The government set up special areas in the State and declared them as market areas. These market areas would be subject to the jurisdiction of the market committees, No farmer or trader would be able to sell or buy produce freely in the market area, If a trader has to procure the produce from the farmers in the market area, then they would require a license to do so. By this licensing system the government-controlled these traders to an extent. The government also claimed that the farmers would be granted a Minimum Support Price in these markets that is, a minimum price at which the farmers would be able to sell their produce to safeguard them from exploitation. The government also stated that if some produce was left with the farmers, then the government would itself procure that if the traders are unable to do so. This was a great deal for the farmers, these market areas were regulated under the State APMC act (Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act) when in the recent protesting farmers say "save the mandis", by mandis, they mean the APMC- these market areas under it
FLAWS IN APMC AND IN THE NEW BILL
But over the years, some flaws of the APMC surfaced, the market committee had extraordinary powers to grant a license to the traders, A "License raj" developed in one sense. The second flaw was that the licensed commission agents that procured produce from the farmers started forming cartels and formulating deals with one another to collectively not buy produce from the farmers at a specified rate and so the farmers would be left with no option
Let us talk about the ordinances brought in by the Modi government. They have claimed that these ordinances would create "one nation, one market" and give farmers the freedom of choice by which they can sell their produce wherever they wish to.
Let's talk about the wants of the farmers-These ordinances state that the areas outside these APMCs will have no taxes on sale or purchase but the farmers claim that if the government make a sale and purchase outside the mandis more attractive due to the absence of taxes, Then this would pose a huge disadvantage for the farmers because everything in the APMC mandis is regulated, there is a Minimum Support Price but no MSP exists outside these mandis. There is no Minimum Support Price for the farmers, there is no one to regulate anything and to ensure that the farmers are treated fairly and are not exploited. Most of the people believe that these ordinances would "privatise" the agricultural sector of India where big companies like Reliance and Adani group would be able to establish their monopolies over the agricultural sector of India and it would become easier to exploit the farmers. Most of the farmers in the country do not have the requisite knowledge to understand lengthy contracts made by the multinational companies and fight legal battles with them. Most experts also say that the government is fooling people by claiming that these ordinances would impart freedom of choice because this freedom already exists with the farmers, they can sell their produce wherever they wish to
This whole issue is broadly about privatised markets vs government-regulated markets and this issue exists not only in India but in many developed countries as well due to which, you will be surprised to know, farmer suicides are on the rise even in developed countries in Europe and America and these countries are undergoing an agricultural crisis because even in these countries, major multinational companies have captured a monopoly and are exploiting the farmers.
Conclusion
In the end, it's very clear that after railways and banks it's now the turn of agriculture to get privatised which is the worst thing which a government could ever do as we already know that this method didn't work well in the developed nation like America then how will it work in India. And if BJP believes that this new bill won't affect the MSP's then they should add a clause for this. A Farmer and a Soldier is someone who's kindness and obliges we won't be able to repay ever. It's a request and a plea to the government to please put them away from their dirty politics.
AbhishekRawat
ContentWriter
@DayLightMedia
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