Taking a cue from the Kerala Chief Minister, the Union Finance Minister said that any challenge can be transformed into an opportunity. However, it seems that she wants to transform the current challenge that farmers and agricultural workers face, into an opportunity for her friends in agro industries.
Amending ECA 1955
The FM has said that the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 will be amended to allow more private investment in agriculture so that higher prices can be ensured. Two outrageous moves have been suggested as part of it.
1. De-regulation of prices of onion, potato, oilseeds, edible oils and cereals.
2. Do away with stock limit except in cases like national calamities and famine with price rise.
This de-regulation will only increase price in the open market, making essential foods inaccessible to the majority of the population. Doing away with stock limit will also enable price rise, as it will invariably result in hoarding. However, in no way will both these moves help to increase the incomes of farmers or availability of essential agricultural products to the general public.
Central Legislation
An even more outrageous measure has been announced by the FM. She has said that a Central Legislation will be enacted to enable barrier free inter-state trade of agricultural commodities. It will also allow for e-trading of agricultural produce.
According to Schedule Seven of the Constitution of India, "Agriculture, including agricultural education and research; protection against pests and prevention of plant diseases" fall under the State List. This proposed central legislation will be a gross violation of our federal principles.
The FM stated that because of the prevalence of APMCs, farmers are not able to get better prices. She suggested that these restrictions need to be done away with. Nothing can be further away from the truth. APMCs are the very bodies that ensure that the interests of the farmers are protected. With the new legislation, the FM has hinted that the Government of India plans to do away with such buffers.
The new legislation would also allow for e-trading. This would severely impact the food security of the regions in which agricultural production actually happens. If this law were to be implemented, the State's would be left with no avenue to ensure adequate reserves of food grain that could be utilised according to their requirements. It would even erode the Public Distribution System further.
Real Motive
The measures proposed yesterday by the Union Finance Minister will have adverse effects on India's food security and the livelihoods of Indian farmers. Then, what is their real motive? The aim is to drive agricultural workers, small farmers and agricultural cooperatives out of business. Even with the minimal support that they get now, they are surviving and hence resisting the corporate takeover of agriculture. If they are completely impoverished, they leave agriculture, desert their lands and migrate as wage labourers; the resistance dies out. Then, a red carpet can be laid out to big businesses to enter agriculture. Surely, this seems to be the ultimate goal.
