Ep 10: Why farmers are protesting?
The government has introduced three Bills to replace these ordinances. Lok Sabha passed one of these recently and the other two are listed for consideration and passing during the current session. They are called: The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. It is the Bill replacing the third that has been passed in Lok Sabha. While farmers are protesting against all three ordinances, their objections are mostly against the provisions of the first. And while there is no uniform demand among the protesters or a unified leadership, it emerges that their concerns are mainly about sections relating to “trade area”, “trader”, “dispute resolution” and “market fee” in the first ordinance44Section 2(m) of The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 defines “trade area” as any area or location, place of production, collection, and aggregation including (a) farm gates; (b) factory premises; (c) warehouses; (d) silos; (e) cold storages; or (f) any other structures or places, from where the trade of farmers’ produce may be undertaken in the territory of India. The definition does not, however, include “the premises, enclosures, and structures constituting (i) physical boundaries of principal market yards, sub-market yards, and market sub-yards managed and run by the market committees formed under each state APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) Act”. It also excludes “private market yards, private market sub-yards, direct marketing collection centers, and private farmer-consumer market yards managed by persons holding licenses or any warehouses, silos, cold storages or other structures notified as markets or deemed markets under each State APMC Act in force in India”. In effect, existing mandis established under APMC Acts have been excluded from the definition of trade area under the new legislation. The government says the creation of an additional trade area outside of mandis will provide farmers the freedom of choice to conduct trade in their produce. Via: iasscore.in
