Indian Parliament Repealed 3 Farm Laws

Quick glance

• Indian government repealed 3 farm laws
• PM modi announced this on Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s 552 Prakash utsav
• Indian farmers were protesting against these laws from the last 1 year

Indian Parliament repealed 3 farm laws. The 3 farms laws were signed by the President of India on 27th September 2020. The Government said that these farm laws would be proved as the second Green Revolution, and would double the farmer’s income by 2022. We all know that it is the target of the Indian government to double the income of farmers.

But the farmers protested against these farm laws, as part of a Delhi Chalo campaign, all over India, especially by the farmers of Punjab and Haryana for more than one year. Member of Parliament, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, from Bathinda Constituency, resigned from the Union Government to support the farmers. It is to be noted that Harsimrat Kaur Badal is from Punjab’s largest regional Political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal. So, the Indian parliament repealed farm laws.

So on 552nd Prakash Utsav of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (19th November 2021) PM Modi declared that these farm laws will be repealed by a constitutional procedure. The Farm Laws Repeal Bill was passed by parliament on 29th November 2021.

Some facts about Indian Agriculture:

• The agriculture sector is the backbone of the Indian economy.
• It provides employment for 52% of the total population.
• The share of agriculture in GDP is about 14%.

In India, about 80% of farmers are small farmers with less than 1 hectare of fields. On the contrary, the average size of a field in America is 178 hectares.

India is the largest producer of pulses, jute, and milk in the world. In the production of sugarcane, wheat and rice India stands at second rank.

What are the 3 Farm Laws?

→ 1st law: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020

→ 2nd law: Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance.

→ 3rd law: Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020

What are these Farm Acts?

Act 1 Farmer’s produce Trade and Commerce:

 This Act proposed the opening of a private market parallel to the APMC (Agriculture Produce and Market Committee) There would be no tax on the private market. The farmers could sell their crops anywhere all over India without any restriction. The concept of middlemen would be abolished by this act as traders would directly procure crops from the farmers.

Why are farmers protesting against this Act 1?

• As there would be no tax on the private market, the traders would definitely buy crops in these private mandis.
• So in the future Govt. may not maintain APMC (Agriculture Produce and Market Committee) which could be dangerous for the small farmers.
• Farmers consider middlemen as the service provider. These middlemen provide immediate loans to the farmers.
• In 2006, Bihar Government abolished the APMC and now farmers are in a miserable situation. They failed to get a fair price for their crops. The Bihar farmers sell 1 quintal of wheat for 1000 rupees whereas Punjab farmers sell 1 quintal of wheat for rupees 1975. So, farmers of Bihar are selling their lands and migrating to Punjab.
• The classic examples of privatization that damaged the public sectors are BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited ) and AIR India.

Act 2  Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance:

 It allowed the agreement between the farmers and the traders. The maximum time period of the contract was 5 years and the minimum time period was 1 year. The price would already be fixed in the agreement. There was also a provision of Appellate Authority, if any violation of contract took place, both the parties may go to the SDM(Sub-divisional Magistrate) for resolving the problem.

Why are farmers protesting against this Act 2?

• The farmers fear that the big companies in coming years might make monopolies and offer the price lower than MSP (Minimum Support Price- the price which is essential for the crops) and thus could exploit the farmers.
• Traders may refuse to procure the crops at the end of the agreement citing  quality issues.
• The farmers believe the big companies might affect the verdict given by SDM by using their power. As a result, farmers could suffer a lot.
• There was also no provision of the civil court.

Act 3 Farm Services Act- This act replaced the original Essential Commodities Act 1955:

Under this Act, farmers and traders could stock essential commodities in-store except during times of war and disaster. Originally, the Essential Commodities Act came into force in 1955 to stop black hoarding and to ensure the delivery of certain products. It includes onion, foodstuff, drugs, fuel, pulses, fertilizers, edible oil, etc.

Why are farmers protesting against this Act 3?

• Farmers have no storage facility to store the crops so the whole benefit will be enjoyed by big companies as they have large godowns to store the foodstuff etc.
• In the future, there will be higher chances of fluctuations in prices.
• The traders may further refuse to procure the crops as they may have a large rock of crops already in their stores.

However, the Prime Minister, in an address to the Nation on November 19, 2021, said that these farm laws were in the interest of the farmers, but the Government failed to explain these laws to the farmers. That’s why they had to repeal these three farm laws.