From Ordinance to Farmers’ Law: Undemocratic

• Sunil Panwar

Haryana is an agrarian state whose 80% economy depends directly or indirectly on farming. After the Green Revolution, the farmer here has risen to self-sufficiency by doing away with cultivation using traditional plow and bullock, by creating food for the country availing the benefits of government schemes from time to time and using ultra-modern equipment, good seeds and necessary pesticides. The grain has reached the state’s laborer only from the farmer’s farm. The extent to which the weather affects the agriculture is as much as the extent to which the policies of the Central and State governments are affected. Due to the existence of Mandis at district and block levels (APMC) in Haryana, a farmer does not have to wander for trade and commerce and can sell the produce with all due respect, in a very convenient manner. Earlier governments have fixed minimum support prices (MSP) for cereals (7), pulses (5), oilseeds (7), commercial (4) crops, but despite that they are not able to get the full price of their crops. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) is deducted on the pretext of moisture etc. in the crop and the receipt is prepared according to the entire minimum support price (MSP). The erstwhile Congress government provided electricity, fertilizer, seeds, urea, tractors, equipment at a low price to the farmers of Haryana and the minimum support price was increased from time-to-time. When the UPA waived a loan of Rs. 72000 crores for the farmers who were forced to commit suicide in the country, then the farmers of Haryana who were in a dilapidated state got benefits. From time-to-time, UPA reviewed the status of the farmer through scientists and in 2004, a committee was formed under the leadership of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, which submitted a report for the farmers.

Swaminathan Report: 1. In 2004,a committee was formed under the leadership of Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, which is also known as the National Commission for Farmers. 2. Agriculture should be brought under the concurrent list instead of the state list. 3. Farmers should be provided good quality seeds at minimum prices and they should get 50 percent more than the cost of the crop. 4. For the awareness of farmers, arrangement of Gyan Chaupal¼knowledge centre½and Mahila Kisan Credit Card should be made. 5. National Land Use Advisory Services should be formed. Waste lands should be divided among the landless and the land should be improved. Agricultural land should not be given to the corporate sector. 6. Farm Risk Fund should be created. 7. Government should arrange farm loans for small and medium farmers. 8. Interest rate for farmers’ loan should not be more than 4 percent and if they are not able to repay the loan, then its recovery should be stopped. The UPA did not make the Swaminathan report its election issue yet continued to make meaningful efforts on most points of this report. The BJP promised to implement the Swaminathan report in its election declaration letter. While in Opposition, former Agriculture Minister of Haryana, Shri Om Prakash Dhankar and other BJP leaders, demonstrated in favor of the Swaminathan report on the streets, but turned back on their promise as soon as they came to power. After that, they resorted to Jumlebaazi that till 2022, the income of farmers would be doubled, but in September 2020, 3 bills for farmers were introduced in the Lok Sabha by the BJP government at the center and without issuing any ordinance, they passed those bills which have today been implemented as the law. In all these three laws, not only is there a complete opposition to the original spirit of the Swaminathan report, but these Peasant laws seem to blow democracy away.

1. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act Government’s point of view: i) Black marketing will be stopped by this law. Farmer’s point of view: i) This law is a violation of the Essential Commodities Act of 1955. With this, the black market will increase due to the exemption of private storage of these items, which will increase inflation.
2. Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Law (Open Market) Government’s point of view: i) The farmer can sell his produce in any state of the country. ii) The farmer can sell his produce at the desired profit. iii) The farmer can openly sell his produce to anyone in the corporate world. iv) Transport expenses will be reduced for farmers. Farmers’ point of view: i) Even today, the farmer can sell his produce in any state. ii) Today, they do not get full price in the mandis (APMC) even for the crops whose minimum support price is fixed. So, without any written minimum support price guarantee, their crops would be sold at a very cheap price in the public market. The condition of the farmers in the states where there are no mandis (APMCs) is a proof of this. Bihar, Jharkhand is an example of this. iii) The corporate world will give good prices initially due to competition from government mandis, which will gradually lead to the shutdown of the government mandis and farmers’ exploitation will be started by the corporate world. iv) Transport risk for the inter-state market will remain in different perspectives.
3. Farmers’ Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act (Contract Farming) Government’s point of view: i) The farmers could fix the price of the crop with the industrialists according to their desired price. ii) The farmer will be saved from the risk of natural disaster. iii) Farmer’s crop will be insured by contractors. Farmers’ point of view: i) From this, the condition of the farmer will be exactly as that of farmers cultivating indigo in Champaran, Bihar. ii) The contractor will put the fertility of land at risk for his profit. iii) Only corporate houses will benefit from the crop insurance scheme. iv) The farmer will gradually fall into the category of a laborer from that of the owner.

Today, the farmers of Haryana are standing very firmly against the three black laws along with the farmers of Punjab and other states. For the vegetable crop in Haryana, the Haryana Government had implemented the Bhava Bhavaantar Yojana, which did not benefit any farmer throughout the state. It was only after the failure of this scheme that the farmers have become disillusioned with the BJP government of Haryana. From 2014 till now, the BJP government in Haryana has nominally increased the minimum support price for crops like wheat, rice, sugarcane etc., which is much lower than the increase in the previous rate by the Congress government, in terms of inflation. This government wants to capture the economy of farming. In August 2020, its favorite Reliance Group bought more than 100 acres of land at Naultha village near Haryana’s Panipat district. In which the process of building a warehouse for storage has started. This completely exposes the nexus between the present BJP government and corporate houses. The farmers of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and the other far-flung areas sitting at all the borders of Delhi amidst the bitter cold are imposing a basic question mark on the democratic structure of this country that whether the socialism written in the Preamble of the Constitution of India will remain alive or will India be stopped from growing in the direction of socialism by getting democracy butchered by the merciless hands of capitalism? RGPRS Activist, Haryana