T

HEAGRI
CUL
TURALREF
ORM BI
LL
BY
-SWAST
IK

I
NTRODUCT
ION-

T
hereareutte
rc hao
sa ndagit
ati
oninDelh
ia g
ains
tt heagr
icu
ltu
reb i
l
l,thesec
torwhic
hc on
tri
but
es
1
6% o fGDP,t hePresi
den
to fIndi
agaveh i
sa pp
rovalonSe pt
ember27t othethr
eec o
ntro
vers
ial
a
gri
cul
tur
eBill
st h
atwe r
ee ar
li
erpas
sedbyt h
ePa rl
iamen
t.Theo ppo
sit
ion
,a swel
laslong
-ti
meBJ P
p
art
nerShir
omaniAkal
iDal
,h asca
ll
edthe
serefor
msa s"anti
-far
mer".

Th
ereispre
sent
lyma s
si
vefar
me rpr
otes
thapp
eningacr
ossthecoun
tryaga
ins
tt h
et hr
eerefo
rms—
Fa
rmer
s’Produ
ceT ra
dea n
dCo mmer
ce(Promo
tio
na ndFaci
l
it
ati
on) Act
,Farmer
s(E mpowe
rmentand
Pr
ote
cti
on) Agre
ementon Pr
ice Ass
ura
nceandF ar
m Serv
ice
sAc t
,a ndtheE sse
nti
alCommodi
ti
es
(Amend
ment
) Act.

F
arme
rsh a
vel
ai
dbloc
kadetoDel
hiev
ena sMo
dig
ovtcl
uel
esstofi
ndabe
tters
olut
ion
.T h
efi
ft
hrou
nd
o
fme e
tin
gsbe
twee
na gi
tat
edfa
rmergro
upsan
dthece
ntra
lg o
ver
nmen
tonceaga
infail
edtor
eacha
ny
e
ndresul
t.

GOVERNME
NT’
sPOI
NTOFVI
EW-

Theg o
ver
nmen
th assai
dt h e
ser efor
mswi l
lb o
ostt hegrowthinthes ec
torthroughpriv
ates e
cto
r
i
nvest
mentinbui
l
din
ginfras
truc
turea n
ds upp
lyc h
ainsforfarmpr
oduceinnati
onalandg l
obalmark
ets
.
The
ya refr
ame
dt ohel
ps mal
lfarmerswhod o
n’th avethemeanst
oe i
the
rs t
ipu
lat
ef orthe
irprodu
ceto
ge
tab et
terpr
iceorinvestini n
fras
truc
tur
et oi mpr
ovethep r
odu
cti
vit
yo ff a
rms.T hebil
lo nAgri
mar
ketseek
stoall
owfarmerstos e
llthe
irprodu
ceo uts
ideAPMC'mandi
s'towh oeve
rt h
eywa nt
.

BENEF
ITS-

T
hisa ctcoul
dme ans t
ateswilllos
e' commi
ssi
ons'a n
d' ma
ndifees'(taxes
).T hel a
wo nc ontr
act
f
armi
ngwi l
lpermi
tf armerstoe nte
ri n
toac on
trac
twi t
ha gr
i-bus
ines
sf i
rmso np r
e-agr
eedp r
ic
eso f
t
heirprodu
ce.T heE ssent
ialCommodi
ti
es(Ame ndment
) Ac t,2020,r emovec o
mmodit
iesli
kecerea
ls,
p
ulses
,o ni
onpo t
atoesedibl
eo i
ls
,a ndo i
l
seed
s,f r
omt heli
stofe s
sent
ialc
o mmodi
ti
es.Thi
swillendthe
g
ovtc on
tro
lns tock
-h ol
di
ngl i
mit
sexceptunde
re xt
raor
dina
rycirc
umsta
nces.

F
ARMER’
sPOI
NTOFVI
EW-

F
armer
sfromPun
jab,Har
yan
a.Ut
tar
prade
sha n
dsomeo
the
rp a
rtsoft
hecou
ntr
yar
epr
ote
sti
nga
gai
nst
t
heseref
orms
.Curr
ent
lyt
her
eisamajo
rp ro
tes
tgo
ingo
na tDel
hi
'sbo
rde
rs

Acomp
romi
sesol
uti
onwou
ldrequ
irecon
sul
tat
ion— s omet
hin
gs pi
ri
tl
ylac
kin
gwh
enMo
di’
sgo
ver
nme
nt
p
ass
edthebi
ll
sthr
oughadub
iou
sv oi
cevot
einp a
rli
ame
n ti
nSe p
tember

,“I
fth
ema
ndif
al
lsi
ntod
isu
se,wi
l
lth
ego
ver
nme
nts
topb
uyi
ngf
romu
satg
uar
ant
eedp
ric
es?”

T
hea p
pre
hen
sio
ni s
n’tc
ompl
ete
lyhyp
oth
eti
cal
.TheFCIgra
nari
esar
eov
erf
lowi
ng.Theexc
esss
toc
k
c
ost
sthetax
payer$25b
il
li
on,mon
eythatcou
ldh
aveoth
eru s
esint
hep
ost
-Covide
cono
my.Far
mer
s
wereawar
eo fthi
s. Amongman
yd e
mands,on
eo fthe
irdema
ndsisforlega
la s
sur
anceformin
imum
su
pportpr
ice
s,s ome
thi
ngtha
tcouldhavebadrep
erc
ussi
onsfo
rp u
bli
cfina
nces.gove
rnmen
to fIndi
a
cur
ren
tlydec
lar
edp r
ic
esfo
r23c ommodi
ti
es,bu
tthes
ea r
emo s
tl
ytheh a
rshreal
it
yexceptforwhea
t,
ri
ce,andcot
ton..
.

CONCL
USI
ON-

Theca
pit
al
istappr
oachwon’trefor
mIndi
a’sagr
ic
ult
ure,butami
xtur
eofma r
ket
sandi
nst
it
uti
onsmigh
t.
Le
ader
sh av
et os t
ri
ken ewb ar
gai
nstha
twillmakefoodspr
oduc
erlos
ei nt
ere
stino
lda r
ran
gement
s.
Modi
’suni
tarystyl
eofwo rk
inghascomp
li
cat
edthing
su p
.Butther
e’ssti
l
lawa ytot
urnthi
sinfa
mous
ac
tint
oamu t
ualbene
fic
iar
ya c
tb yco
mingtoac o
nsens
usbyli
st
eni
ngtothed e
man
dofsoci
ety
.