Farmers Movement Archive

Farm Laws: Creation of agriculture India private ltd?

By: P Wilson Parliament recently enacted three new laws relating to agriculture with a stated purpose to empower farmers and to engage with agri-business firms on the basis of a mutually agreed remunerative price framework. However, the manner of legislating these acts and the acts themselves have left a bitter taste in the mouths of the people of the country, particularly farmers and agriculturists. Farmers across the country are protesting against the laws, and so are a majority of political parties. The Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 are being viewed as "corporatisation of agriculture". In keeping with the recent trend of the Union government to "disinvest" and sell national assets like public sector undertakings and "privatise" successful government corporations, it seems the government has now set its eyes on cashing in on the agricultural sector. The three laws pave the way for giant corporations to swallow up the agricultural sector, and run it like a factory, with a purely profit motive. The ruling party has projected them as being aimed at "freeing" farmers from Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), when only 6% of farmers in the country are selling to APMCs, as per news reports. In fact, the other 94% already have the freedom to contract with whoever they choose. By introducing private players into the market, the government is essentially permitting large corporations to coerce farmers into contracting with them. Though, on paper, farmers have the right to negotiate the contract, in reality, they do not have legal assistance or negotiating know-how. There is no authority that regulates these agreements. Further, the government has not specified in the legislation that the minimum support price fixed by the APMC will be maintained by the private players as well. Hence, the way is being paved for a few favoured corporations to form a cartel and take over the agricultural sector. Section 2(e) of the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, which defines ‘farmer’, shockingly includes within its ambit corporates and middlemen as well. Thus, the intention of these three laws is to hand over the agricultural sector to crony capitalists on a platter, and leave the farmers defenceless. Breach in Parliamentary procedureThe manner of the passage of the laws through the Rajya Sabha is mired in controversy. On the day they were taken up, the Rajya Sabha was functioning with its members seated in both the Lok Sabha chamber and the Rajya Sabha chamber due to the pandemic. The two chambers were connected with a live feed through which the members present in either chamber could view proceedings in the other House through large digital boards. However, when the proceedings were on, the Lok Sabha chamber was completely disconnected and the Hon’ble deputy chairman did not notice the disappearance of the Lok Sabha chamber from the screens. Thus, when the bill was passed by voice vote, voices of the members in the Lok Sabha chamber were not heard, and as a result it cannot be said to have been legally passed. Therefore, for the first time in Independent India, a bill sailed through a House of Parliament by voice vote when a majority of the voices of the members were not heard by the Chair. Intruding into the state’s domainThese legislations are also ex-facie unconstitutional. Under our Constitution, the domain of Parliament and state legislatures are demarcated under three lists of Schedule VII. According to Article 246 of the Constitution, Parliament can exclusively enact laws on List I, state legislatures exclusively on List II and both of them can pass laws on List III subjects. Agriculture is found at entry 14 of List II, markets at entry 28 and other agriculture related subjects at entries 46,47 and 48. The states are in the best position to take up laws on agriculture since they require local knowledge. With our varied agro-climatic zones and cropping patterns, every region has geography-specific agricultural issues, which need to be dealt specifically by the state. Land is also found at entry 18 of List II. The pith and substance of the farm laws relate to agriculture and rights over farmland and its produce. Thus, as per Article 246(3), it is a subject over which the state legislatures alone can enact laws. The new farm laws are therefore a direct affront to, and a perverse intrusion into, the exclusive domain of the state. Such an incursion upsets the well-established federal structure of the country. Objecting to this, DMK president M K Stalin has directed the filing of a writ petition before the Supreme Court challenging the three laws. He has also called upon the chief minister of Tamil Nadu to challenge them as they eviscerate the state legislature of its Constitutional authority. One can only hope that sustained pressure on all fronts causes the Centre to repeal the three enactments and save farmers. (The writer is a DMK MP and former additional solicitor general of India)

The Times of India

2020-10-08

Chennai