FARM BILL 2020

INTRODUCTION

India is an agriculture-based country and 70% Indians are directly or indirectly involved in
agriculture-based activities. From time-to-time Indian government has brought laws to regulate
the Indian agriculture sector. The Cabinet of India on 17 th September 2020 (got consent by the
president on 27th of September) passed Bills for the betterment of farmers, THE FARMERS
BILL 2020, or FARM BILL 2020. This was brought because Government found that the law that
regulate the Indian agriculture market (such as APMCs) are not fairly implemented and therefore
is not serving their purpose. These bills have brought drastic structural change and brought in
private player into the market. The bill will also provide multiple trading platform to the farmers
and a legal framework to enter into pre-arranged contracts with the big corporate house and the
traders. This will increase the competition in the market and will help in increasing the farmers
income by double. The FARM BILLS 2020 is consist of 3 bills altogether namely: -

 Farmers Produce and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020,

 The barriers on inter-state and intra state trading were removed.
 Electronic trading is been promoted by adding provision about it.
 No market fee or cess or levy, under any state act (APMC Act) shall be levied.

 Farmers Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Assurance and Farm

Services Bill 2020
 Legal framework has been made so that farmers can enter into contract with the
corporate house well before the produce.
 Dispute resolution
 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020
  Potato, onion, cereals etc. has been removed from the essential commodities so
stock limit is not applied on these items except under extraordinary situation. And
any stock limit on agriculture limit should be based on price rise.

GOVERNMENT MOTIVE

Government has introduced these bills for the wellbeing of farmer and believes that by these
bills’ farmers income will be double by 2022. It is being thought that freeing agriculture will
eventually help in better pricing of the produce. When the farmers will sell their produce directly
to the corporate house or the traders it will cut the middlemen’s cut and farmers will get better
price for their produce and this will also provide them access to the latest technology which
subsequently will increase the farming standard. Government has also set up a proper system for
electronic trading where the trader should be registered for trading and he have to keep a record
of trade transaction and mode of payment.

The farm Bill 2020 will provide an alternative platform (other

than APMCs) to the farmers to sell their produce in open market. Now farmers can sell their
good to anyone and anywhere and no any charges will be applied on them as of selling goods in
APMCs were charged market fee so selling good outside means farmers will get higher income.
APMCs will have to compete will these alternative platforms so now farmers will have an option
to sell their goods directly to the corporate house or to the traders. Its like private competition in
banking, insurance or telecom. The farm bill 2020 doesn’t scrape current MSP based
procurement and one can sell their produce in existing mandis on existing MSP. Government
believes that this bill will attract FDI and it will transform the agriculture sector.

WHY FARMERS ARE PROTESTING AGAINST THE BILL

Farmers and others have called this bill as “corporate friendly or anti-farmer bill”. This bill has
received protest from most parts of the India where farming is still a primary source of income
and survival. Price assurance bill doesn’t provide any mechanism for the price fixation thus
farmers fears that this will give corporate house a free hand to determine the price of these
commodity and this will lead to farmer exploitation. Lack of statutory support in the bill is the
main concern for the farmers because most of their produce use to procured at MSP by the Food
corporation of India and other state agencies. And in open market the price will be fixed by the
mutual understanding of the farmers and the corporate or the traders where they will have an
upper hand on deciding the price of the commodity. Farmers believes that the alternative
platform will make APMC redundant like BSNL as they won’t be able to compete with the
MNCs and other corporate house due to their money power. And the essential commodity act
has removed pulse, cereals, rice, wheat etc. thus the amendment deregulate the production,
movement and storage of the food grains.

CONCLUSION
Government has claimed that they have brought the bill in favor of farmers and farmers will be
benefited by this bill. Farmers will get access to larger market and latest technology. They can do
inter-state or intra-state trading with ease and they also have the option of electronic trading will
significantly reduces time and increase the area of market. But as soon as the bill was passed it
witness a nation-wide protest by the farmers where they started their journey toward Delhi. The
farmers want that there should be a provision of fixed price that should be added to the bill so
that they should get the MSP or else very soon APMC will collapse and then corporate will have
a free hand on deciding the price because there is no such rule exist and this will only make it
worse for the farmers. There had been numbers of talk taken place between the farmers and the
government but still today there has not been any concluding point. The government is rigid on
their stand and they are pressing hard that it is for the farmers and farmers want the bill to scrape
off.

According to me there should be a mid-way, government should

agree to add-on the points raised by the farmers because if the bill is for farmers then where’s the
point of not listening them. Why government shouldn’t bow before their needs. Afterall India is
a agriculture based country and by adding MSP will only give security to the farmers and this is
what they want. Therefore, the government should review and rewrite the bill so that the ongoing
protest can be subtle. And should bring in more effective policy which will benefit our farmers.