New Delhi – President Ramnath Kovind signed all the three Farm bills, recently passed by the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, these bills have now been converted into laws. The objective of the government is creating a ‘One Country One Market’, on the principle of ‘One Country One System’ and in accordance to the government policy, three separate bills had been presented in the Rajya Sabha. The implementation had already started in June, through an ordinance. Now following the sign of the President, the ordinance will be replaced by the law. But some farmers and political organisations are opposing these laws.
Only last week, the bills’ Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020′, ‘Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020’ and ‘Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020’, were passed by the Rajya Sabha. This will enable the farmers to buy and sell their produce, in markets, other than those approved by the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC). The obstacles in the interstate movement of farm produce will be removed. It is claimed that this will reduce the market and transport expenses and will result in more funds in the hands of the farmer. E-trading facilities also will be made available to the farmers.
The farmers will be able to get the price fixed for their crops, in advance, by signing an agreement with wholesale buyers, processing industry and companies. Farmers with land less than 5 hectares will benefit from these contract farming rules. This will protect the farmer from the ups and downs in the market rates, because the contractor will have to bear the brunt of the ups and downs in the market rates. The middlemen system will be dispensed with and the government claims that the farmers will be able to earn better returns.
Also, under the ‘Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020’ some of the farm products have been removed from the essential commodities list. Therefore, now there will be no restrictions on stocking of potato, pulses, legumes and onion. The restrictions have not been entirely removed. But confidence is being expressed that with the reduced restrictions, there will be a flow of domestic as well as foreign investment into the sector. The government is expressing confidence that this will also help stabilise the prices.
Related posts:
Term of 53 members of Rajya Sabha comes to an end
Rail Budget to be merged with Union Budget
India approves Proxy Vote for NRIs
Lok Sabha passes a bill to allow proxy voting by NRIs
A historic decision that will shape the future of India
The Citizenship Amendment Bill passed in Rajya Sabha as well
Rajya Sabha passes three Labour Code Bills
