Three Agri Bills of Modi Government: Profit for Adani – Ambani, Destruction of Lives and Livelihoods of Millions of Farmers!

In the last week, the Lok Sabha, through voice vote, passed two anti-farmer legislations – The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. It also amended the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill in the same session. On 20th September, bypassing all norms of conducting a Parliamentary session, the bills were passed again via voice vote, despite opposition from many MPs. These bills have sent shock waves through the farmers and farm based business communities. Farmers, especially from the Green revolution belts, have taken to the streets demanding scrapping of these bills. Over 250 farmers’ organizations are sitting in Dharna, on hunger strikes and are demonstrating across the length and breadth of India.

The triad of bills has created a rift even inside the ruling coalition partners. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the sole Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) representative in the Modi government, tendered her resignation as the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries to protest this triad of bills. Let us try to understand these bills one by one.

1. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020

In order to decipher the impact of this bill, first we need to understand the APMCs (Agricultural Produce Market Committees) laws, which would be replaced by this new law. 

APMCs

The APMCs are designated areas created by state governments where various agri-produce can be sold by farmers to licensed people or commission agents. Presently, there are 2,477 principal markets (commonly known as ‘Mandis’) and 4,843 sub-market yards throughout the country. Through this mechanism, the State Governments monitor the agricultural market. The idea behind this system was to ensure that the farmers get proper value of their produce. These markets also became nodal points for government procurement of foodgrains. There is no denying of the fact that, over the years, cartelisation has corrupted this network’s procurement points. But, instead of plugging those leaks, this law, aims to abort the entire network. Under this law, a trader can approach any farmer anywhere in the country and buy the produce, at whatever price they agree upon. Now, given the power inequalities existing in the agricultural sector, it is not very hard to imagine about the vulnerabilities to which the marginal farmers would be thrown into. In India, almost 64% of farmers fall into the category of small or medium producers.

It is crucial to note that APMCs come under the jurisdictions of the state governments. But this bill over-rides the state laws. So, the policy decisions like MSP, food procurement which were hitherto the jurisdiction of the state governments, would now be controlled by the agricultural MNCs, and their local agents.

Back in 2014, in one of its electoral promises, the BJP leaders had said that, if they are elected to power, they would design policies that would eventually double the income of the farmers. In a sheer parade of shamelessness, the same Government disbands the very system that at least allows them some degree of income security through MSP or Minimum Support Price. 

In his recent statements, Prime Minister has stated that, the new law would neither replace the APMCs, nor the MSP system. Well, in a situation where the corporate buyers are freely allowed to purchase from the producers, what purpose the APMCs would be left to serve! What fate expect for a price and quantity regulating agency, where every other transaction is left to the whims and fancies of the market!  Obviously, these institutions like APMC and policies like MSP would wither away.

In its defense, the Government has also stated that, this bill would increase the income of the food producers, by eradicating the obsolete barriers. Facts, however, contradict this claim. In 2006, the NDA government of Bihar had scrapped their State APMC Act. Today, a sizable section of intermediaries have started to procure the grains from the unprotected local markets of Bihar, and then sell it to the APMCs of other states. This has not only decreased the income of the farmers, but at the same time created a new variety of corruption. So, it is easily imaginable what the situation would be when similar practice will be implemented throughout the country.

2. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020

This Act ‘allows’ the farmers to enter into agreements with ‘sponsor parties’ to undertake contract farming. (The Indigo cultivation in Bengal in 1777 under the East India Company also began on similar notes.) This means, once the farmers enter into the contracts with their ‘sponsors’ they are legally obligated to produce according to the whims and fancies of their corporate ‘sponsors’, instead of the local food demand or the crop cycles. This practice is already under way in different parts of the globe and it has produced disastrous results for the local food habits, soil fertility, water level, quality of water bodies, life cycle of different insects present in the local ecosystem, environment and most importantly the relative autonomy the farmers used to enjoy.  

This system also strips the farmers off any kind of decision making capacity, and reduces them to mere suppliers, from the role of autonomous producers. At the same time, the Agro MNCs are known for their notorious legal proceedings. In case of legal disputes, the power imbalances between the two parties make it impossible for the farmers to get justice. 

This Act would further deteriorate the condition of the share croppers and the landless peasants. Without any legal protection, the eviction of landless agricultural workers would only become further rampant. 

3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill

The original Essential Commodities Act was passed in 1955. We know that during the entire course of the British Government led agricultural policy, India had suffered from scores of devastating famines throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. These famines were primarily caused by hoarding of food grains by the powerful cartel of food mafias of that time and were protected by the colonial government. The famines decimated millions of the Indian population in different parts of the country. At the same time, a small but powerful section of hoarders used the shortage of food grains and the inflated prices of the same to increase their wealth exponentially. With the devastating effect of those famines still fresh in public memory, the newly independent Indian Government was forced to promulgate laws to restrict possibilities of food grain hoarding and black marketing. Albeit, not full proof, but to a considerable degree, ECA (Essential Commodities Act) of 1955 had been a useful measure in curbing hoarding and disproportionate stockpiling of food grains. This law empowered the government to draw limits to the amount of foodgrains stocks traders or companies could keep.

A section of the neoliberal economists, peddling the argument for the big agro business houses of India and elsewhere, have been arguing for some time that the law was useful when India faced a foodgrain crisis but now that we have bumper harvests and sufficient production, it is useless if not an obstacle.

Playing to the gallery of these big agro business houses, the new ordinance has inserted a sub-section that says that it is only under the situations as extraordinary as war, famine, natural calamity etc. can the government “regulate the supply of such foodstuffs, including cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds and oil”, and price caps will be triggered only when prices rise by 100% (for horticulture produce) and 50% for other non-perishable items!

This argument is completely baseless. The availability of cereals fluctuates, depending upon monsoons and various other factors. In such a scenario, the proposed dilution of the Act, would only help the big traders and their cartels.

The myth of market imperfections and barriers

It is often argued by a particular section of economists that the undoing of the non-market barriers and protectionist measures would enhance overall production and distribution of resources, and result into a proper allocation among all the economic agents. But, what these economists miss to point out is that even the most prosperous countries like USA spend huge sum in subsidies to protect their agricultural sector. In a blatant projection of their imperialist muscles, countries like USA argue that the third world countries should ‘deregulate’ and ‘liberalise’ their markets, while they (USA) keep on pumping huge sum of subsidies to their agricultural sector.

• These three bills have the capacity to jeopardize India’s self reliance in food grain production. Agriculture is still the one of the biggest employment generating sectors of this country. Given the recent phase of rapidly expanding unemployment, and counter migration to the rural areas, caused by the Pandemic, this triad of bills would only aggravate the economic deadlock.
• These three bills will hand over the entire food chain (including farming, purchase, transport, storage and sale) to big corporate companies. This will destroy farmers, small shopkeepers and small traders. Foreign companies and national corporate companies will reap huge profits but the working class, especially farmers, will be ruined.

Who gains from these three bills?

One might wonder that why the present government is so hell-bent to sell out the agricultural sector. The reasons behind are not very hard to find out. The present government, from its first day in office has been working really hard to serve its electoral sponsors. It is not an unknown fact that BJP under the present leadership, has surpassed all records of electoral expenses. At the same time the relentless high pitch propaganda through possible channels of public media is another expensive engagement. The corporate houses, those have been funding BJP, has their plans. Both Reliance Industries of Mukesh Ambani, and the Adani group owned by Gautam Adani have been investing heavily into their agricultural and food processing franchises. So, these three bills are going to benefit these two business houses, along with a handful of agro MNCs at the cost of lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers and the food security of the 130 crore citizens of the country.

We are witness to a massive rise in farmer suicides and death due to hunger across the country. At a time, when laws to protect farmers’ interests and to reduce hunger were required, the BJP government is doing the exact opposite. Colonial era laws which pushed millions of Indians to hunger and eventual death are being brought back. The misery of Indians had helped the British Raj fill their own coffers then; while now, the corporates will profit off the misery of Indians, aided by the anti-people BJP government.

Let us fight these anti-people policies and the anti-people government, tooth and nail.