Skip to main content

Farm laws to open floodgates for corporate loot of agriculture: NGO alliance

Counterview Desk

The day farmers Bharat bandh, December 8, Oikotree India, which is attached with the Geneva-based international alliance called Oikotree, claiming to work for a more just and sustainable world economy as an “essential to the integrity of the Christian faith”, held a virtual discussion with 37 members of its members from 15 Indian states representing several movements and civil society organisations to declare "solidarity" with the protesting farmers.
Deliberating on pros and cons of the three farmers bill introduced by Government of India, in a statement at the end of the discussion, said, “Big companies will have the freedom to stock commodities -- it means they will dictate terms to farmers which may lead to less prices for the cultivators, while at the same time encourage hoarding which will push the prices to the consumers higher.”

Text:

Farmers from several Indian states are protesting against three new Agriculture Reforms Acts, that the government says will open up the tightly-controlled agriculture sector to free-market forces. It is claimed that the bills, passed by India’s parliament make it easier for farmers to sell their produce directly to private buyers and enter into contract farming with private companies.
The government suggests that private sector investments will stimulate growth. The Union government says the ordinances are pro-farmer and will provide barrier-free trade for farmers produce outside notified Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) or mandis and empower farmers to enter into farming agreements with private players prior to production for sale of agri-produce.
The farmer unions opine that the ordinances will not only phase out the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the traditional APMC market system but will also be disadvantageous for the small and marginal farmers. Besides the farmers, the commission agents fear that the new laws will bypass their business and they will be rendered jobless.
Interestingly, the farmers want the mandi system to remain intact, albeit with appropriate reforms due to a variety of reasons. The biggest fear which is haunting the farmers is withdrawal of the MSP and procurement by Food Corporation of India (FCI). They say farming is no more a profitable vocation and if MSP is withdrawn they will not be able to survive as real crop value will not be realised.
The farmer unions have expressed the apprehension that by allowing contract farming agreements, the big players and companies will control the farming which will harm the small and marginal farmers. They also fear that the lack of procurement would affect the Public Distribution System (PDS) system that would lead to reduced food security, pushing the country’s hunger index to even lower levels than it is.
The other reason of the farmers is that in the present system they are able to avail hand-loan finances from the commission agents to sow the crop and return it when the product reaches the market (mandi), as the banks are hesitant to lend money to the poor farmers and moreover it is a laborious process to avail loans from the banks, hence they mainly depend on the private money lenders and these commission agents.
The farmers fear that once the private markets are established, the traditional APMC (mandi) markets will be diluted and made defunct. The farmers will have to depend on corporations and private firms. The bill relating to commodities aims to remove cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion, potatoes and other essential commodities from the list of essential commodities. It provides for deregulation of production, storage, movement and distribution of these essential food commodities. 
Big companies will have freedom to stock commodities. They will dictate terms to farmers leading to less prices for cultivators
Big companies will have the freedom to stock commodities -- it means they will dictate terms to farmers which may lead to less prices for the cultivators, while at the same time encourage hoarding which will push the prices to the consumers higher. The three Acts undermines the food security concerns, particularly of the poor.
For decades, farmers found themselves driven deeper into debt by crop failures and the inability to secure competitive prices for their produce. Finding themselves unable to cope, many have resorted to taking their own lives, the new laws would only exacerbate this situation.
These ordinances will cause irreparable damage to farming and food security in the country. The farmers are already stressed and are committing suicides every day. These three laws will destroy agriculture and hike the food costs and destroy the PDS, thus food security and increase in hunger.
The farmers are demanding complete withdrawal of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020. Farm laws are to open floodgates for total corporate loot of agriculture.
We the civil society and the members of Oikotree India stand in solidarity with the farmers and their rightful demands and we urge the government to immediately repeal the three farm bills which are against and threat to the farmers survival, their culture and agriculture as well as affect the food security for the poor and food sovereignty of the farmers. We also condemn the inhuman and undemocratic way of treating the farmers and their rightful struggle to protect all our lives who feed us every day and all day. No Farmers No Food, In Solidarity.

Comments

TRENDING

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Andhra team joins Gandhians to protest against 'bulldozer action' in Varanasi

By Rosamma Thomas*  November 1 marked the 52nd day of the 100-day relay fast at the satyagraha site of Rajghat in Varanasi, seeking the restoration of the 12 acres of land to the Sarva Seva Sangh, the Gandhian organization that was evicted from the banks of the river. Twelve buildings were demolished as the site was abruptly taken over by the government after “bulldozer” action in August 2023, even as the matter was pending in court.  

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

United organisations oppose privatisation of health services in Madhya Pradesh

By Our Representative  In a strong show of opposition, multiple health associations under the umbrella of the United Organisations for Action against Privatisation of Health Services have condemned the Government of Madhya Pradesh’s recent moves towards privatising public health facilities. They argue that these actions, including outsourcing and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, will compromise the availability and accessibility of essential health services for the state’s citizens.

Outreach programme in medical education: Band-aids for compound fractures

By Amitav Banerjee, MD*  Recently, the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India, introduced two curricular changes in medical education, both at the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels, ostensibly to offer opportunities for quality medical education and to improve health care accessibility among the underserved rural and urban population.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.