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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farm bills: Politics now threatens to complicate the process -Ajay Vir Jakhar

Farm bills: Politics now threatens to complicate the process -Ajay Vir Jakhar

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published Published on Oct 22, 2020   modified Modified on Oct 22, 2020

-The Indian Express

An opportunity has been lost in the lackadaisical handling of the issue.

When the establishment ignores the historical context and the emotional component underlying any debate, mass protests can erupt to potentially shape the future. The people of Punjab would not have wanted a confrontation with the Union government, neither would I want to put it so bluntly, but around us, agitated farmers, with a strong common purpose, are energised in a way not seen in many decades. To nullify the possible impact of the three farm acts passed in haste by the Parliament, the Punjab government was compelled to pass its own bills on Tuesday. These broadly attempt to ensure continued procurement of wheat and paddy at the minimum support price (MSP), uphold the powers of the courts in dispute settlement and empower the state to regulate trade of foodgrain.

The three farm acts were preceded by a high-level committee in 2015, headed by Shanta Kumar, which suggested measures to reorient the Food Corporation of India (FCI)’s operations by shifting away from the public distribution system to cash transfers. This negates the very requirement of MSP procurement. The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices has been recommending reviewing the open-ended procurement of foodgrain, which is also reflected in the recent RBI annual report that says that the MSP is no solution to farmer’s woes. Similar views were expressed by a Union cabinet minister lately. Therefore, the farmers infer that a path that makes MSP procurement redundant is inevitable and fear it will become applicable after the 2022 assembly elections. To grasp the farmer’s resentment, I estimate the loss that may accrue to Punjab in the most probable way.

The MSP for wheat is Rs 1,925, and for paddy Rs 1,868. But in the absence of government procurement in Bihar and other places, normally crops sell 20 per cent below MSP. Similarly, without assured procurement in Punjab, the losses to the state could exceed.

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The Indian Express, 22 October, 2020, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/punjab-farmers-minimum-support-price-agrarian-crisis-6825390/


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