Thousands of farmers have laid siege to Delhi's border points mostly from Punjab and Haryana.
Farmers are in no mood to compromise even as the government has softened its stance on some demands to include in the new farm laws. Farmer leaders have clearly stated that the agitation will continue till the farm laws are repealed and the MSP is legalised. Thousands of farmers have laid siege to Delhi's border points mostly from Punjab and Haryana. Farmers from other states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and others have not extended support to the agitation because they see no reason to oppose the three new laws. This silence is surprising and raises multiple questions on the ongoing protest.
Punjab and Haryana farmers feel that the new laws will do away with the APMC procurement process as well as the MSP system. These two states have strong government procurement infrastructure. Going by data, the government has been purchasing wheat and rice at Minimum Support Price from both Punjab and Haryana and it has increased successively in the last five years. So, why this impasse, and when will this end? Ashok Gulati, a leading agricultural economist and one of the proponents of the new farm laws, said that the government should carefully consider the options on the farm laws.
Options before the govt
Suggesting what options could be explored, he said that the system should be decentralised. He said that the government spends crores on procurement, storage, and distribution. According to Gulati, the government should create a formula to gauge what is the production of wheat and rice in each state, and how much is the procurement. Based on this, the states should be given the proportion, adding that the entire system is currently being run like one. He suggested that the states should be allowed to decide the MSP.
In the current system, MSPs are announced by the Centre at the beginning of each sowing season. The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs decides the MSPs based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The concept behind announcing MSP is only to ensure farmers get the right price for their products and no one can bargain with them. Besides, it also protects them from price fluctuations and imperfections in the market.
More incentive to farmers
Secondly, he suggested that the government should start focusing on giving more incentives to the farmers on other crops where there is a deficit. There should be a price stabilisation fund in case the prices go down. The government should use this fund to procure in case of a price crash to give a lift to the market and the price structure.
Why the farmers are angry
The new laws -- the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, according to the government, seek to provide for trading areas outside the mandis and this has been a source of anger among Punjab and Haryana farmers. The Centre is arguing that the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) impose charges which ultimately reduce the price realization of farmers. The government wants to check this commission which is charged by intermediaries. While the Centre has failed to convince farmers, the Congress government in Punjab has extended full support to farmers' agitation. The farmers and the opposition parties are not ready to buy the government’s arguments.
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