Farmers Movement Archive

Odisha dithers over its farming ordinances as monsoon session ends

Having opposed the farm bills on opening of agricultural sale and marketing outside the APMC mandis for farmers, as well as allowing contract farming last month, the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha may have quietly shelved two of its own farm ordinances with similar provisions from being converted to laws.Though the Naveen Patnaik government had listed Odisha Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, and Odisha Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, among the 10 ordinances, in the monsoon session of the Assembly for converting them into bills, it has now quietly shelved the idea.The two ordinances promulgated in May this year aimed at registration farmers with contract farming companies for improving production and productivity and amendment of Odisha Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1957, for geographically restriction-free trade and transaction of agricultural produce including livestock across the state and country. With the monsoon session of the Assembly adjourned today, a day ahead of the schedule, the chance of the twin ordinances becoming law may be a remote possibility now.Also read: NDA seat-sharing pact sealed, Nitish Kumar jabs ex-ally Chirag PaswanSenior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said by shelving the twin ordinances, the government may be hoping to get some breathing time as there is anger brewing against the twin farm laws - Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act - passed by the Parliament last month.“The Naveen Patnaik government brought two of its farm ordinances in May this year ahead of the central ordinances. There is not much difference between the central ordinances as well as state ordinances. During the all-party meeting last month, I had raised the issue with the parliamentary affairs minister but I did not get a satisfactory reply. Now, it is clear that the BJD government does not want to confront the farming community of the state by converting the ordinances into laws during the pandemic. It would have been better had they been forthcoming about it. But it’s unfortunate that they are hush about the whole thing,” said Mishra.Last month, the BJD had opposed the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of the Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, alleging that they had little provision for small and marginal farmers as well as sharecroppers. “We can’t support the bill till we are sure that farmers’ interest will be protected,” said BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya.However, the Odisha cooperation department, which had piloted the twin farm ordinances in a comparative analysis done in July, had admitted that there is not much difference between the central ordinance (now enacted into law) and state ordinances. As per the comparative analysis, the Odisha ordinance allows a farmer to enter into a written farming agreement for any farming produce which is same as per the central Act. The Odisha ordinance has only provisions of state government collecting a facilitation fee of maximum 4 percent from the corporate houses that come for contract farming while there are no such features in the central law.Similarly, the period of agreement for contract farming in the central Act is minimum of one crop season/one production cycle (for livestock) to maximum of 5 years, while in the state ordinance the minimum agreement period is of one crop season.Parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said the two ordinances were supposed to have been introduced as bills in the monsoon session but for some reasons, they could not be introduced in the Assembly session. “We may introduce the bill in the winter session. But nothing has been decided as yet,” he said. Minister and secretary of cooperation department, however, did not respond when asked why the two ordinances were not brought in as bills despite the initial announcement.BJP leader Bhrugu Buxipatra said the BJD’s rethinking on the two ordinances may have been a ploy to hoodwink the people of the state. “The BJD would have supported the farm bills in the Parliament but for the CBI raids in the chit fund scam. The similarity of state government’s ordinances on farming with the central laws speaks much about the BJD’s confusion,” he said.However, BJD MP Amar Patnaik said Odisha ordinance on farming was different from central laws. “Our ordinance takes care of small and marginal farmers which is lacking in the central law. There is still time for the state ordinances to get passed,” he said.

Hindustan Times

06-10-2020

India