Sowing Disorder in Ordinances

CONTEXT: The four Ordinances brought by GoI in the name of agrarian reform and banking reforms are being opposed all over the country. 

Government initiatives as a part of agri-reforms

• Essential Commodities Act, 1955 against hoarding and black marketing.
• Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), 1965: To set minimum support prices (MSP) for major crops. It was renamed as Agricultural Prices Commission in 1985.
• Green Revolution, 1965: Agriculture-focused research centres and universities transformed India’s traditional farming with the use of modern technologies.
• Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committees (APMCs) Acts: were enacted by various states contained various safeguards for farmers:

• Payment within the same day.
• The first point of sale.
• Only farmers can become office-bearer in APMC.

• Nationalization of banks (1969 and 1980), opening doors to farmers.
• This made India surplus in food grains In just three decades.

Issue with the Ordinances.

• First Ordinance: Closure of agricultural produce mandis created under the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act.

• Lead to exploitation as the Act paved the way for farmers to get fair prices for their crops.

• Second Ordinance: Relaxing stockholding limits on wheat, rice, pulses, potatoes and onions.

• Lead to black marketing and hoarding, hurting the poor and the middle-classes.

• Third Ordinance: Promoting contract farming.

• Lead to small farmers becoming labourers in their own fields.

• Fourth Ordinance: Allowing private equity in cooperative banks.

• Lead to opening the gates for takeover by big corporates and MNCs of these institutions and assets, built by farmers over decades.
• The very soul of Sardar Patel’s cooperative movement is being destroyed.

Concerns with the states:

• Agriculture is a state subject: The Ordinance negating the APMC Acts violates the states’ constitutional rights.
• Judicial review has been barred: The final decision in case of a dispute was with the State Mandi Board earlier, which now rests with the joint secretary of GoI, taking away the rights of the state government. 
• Loss of source of revenue: The mandis are a source of sizeable revenue for the state government — to finance facilities at the mandi, rural roads and development of rural markets. 
• Its loss would impair the states’ ability to pay salaries and could force the closure of the mandis.

Conclusion: A strong opposition voice is needed in the parliament to counter the anti-farmer, anti-small trader and antic consumer ordinances implemented in the recent times, to lift the plight of the public.