Jaipur: Terming the three recently introduced agriculture sector-related bills as 'anti-farmer', former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Wednesday demanded that the central government should carry out extensive consultations with political parties, farmers' organisations, traders and agriculture experts and consider amending them.
The government introduced the Farmers' Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on Monday to replace ordinances promulgated earlier.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which seeks to deregulate food items, including cereals, pulses and onion.
Attacking the Centre over the issue, Pilot accused the government of 'betraying' the farmers and said that the three ordinances, for which bills have been introduced, were 'anti-farmer' and 'anti-agriculture'.
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The laws were introduced through ordinances during the pandemic even though there was no urgency, the Congress leader said in a statement.
He said despite the issue being a state subject, neither the states nor political parties or agricultural organisations were consulted by the Centre.
Alleging that the Modi government was 'anti-farmer' from the beginning, he said that an attempt was also made to end the compensation law for farmers through an ordinance, but the Congress under Rahul Gandhi's leadership forced them to back down.
He said with the three bills farmers, farm labourers, commission agents and 'mandi' traders will be finished.
Pilot said that the biggest difficulty in contract farming will arise for small farmers as they will become 'servants of companies'.
"Alternatively, the government should consider the option of mass farming by small farmers at the village level. Emphasis should be laid on making dairy farming necessary so that milk production can be increased in the state," he added.
Pilot also stated that abolition of the APMC system will end the agricultural produce purchase system. Farmers will neither get minimum support price nor the fair value of their crop as per the market price.
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"According to the Agricultural Census of 2015-16, 86 per cent of farmers own less than 5 acres of land, in such a situation 86 per cent cannot transport their farm produce to another location. Therefore, they have to sell their crops in the near market. The end of the mandi system will be very fatal for the farmers," he added.
According to the new ordinances, amendment in the Essential Commodities Act has eliminated the storage limit of food items. This way capitalists will control the agricultural trade and the entire agricultural produce will be stored in the reserves which will promote black-marketing as the capitalists will charge consumers at their desired price.
Pilot demanded that the Central government should hold detailed discussions and consider amending these laws so that the actual condition of the nation's farmers can be improved.
(with Agency input)
