BJP's claims on protecting MSP will only be believed when it is part of the new law

 In this interview on the farm bills 2.5 MONTHS AGO, Yogendraji again clarifies:

# No Kisan sanghathan has ever asked for the provisions in these bills in the past many decades. # Even the RSS backed Kisan sanghathans are in opposition to the farm bills. # The Government did not consult a single kisan organization in the run up to the bills - it is in a tearing hurry, first passing ordinance and then these bills.. it is clear that the intent is not to benefit farmers, but some other objective. At about 4.15 counter, Yogendraji explains that the ability to stock as much as desired WILL NOT benefit farmers, but very large stockists who will find it easy to manipulate the market for farm commodities. Both farmers and consumers will lose out by such manipulation. At about 7.15 counter, Yogendraji talks about the bill impacting APMC mandis: # For a long time, farmers have been asking for improvements to the APMC Mandi system. # They have also been asking for APMC Mandis to be set up in large parts of the country where APMC Mandis dont exist at all. # But the Government has no response to what the Farmer organizations have been asking for. Instead, it says it will allow private players to set up mandis outside the existing APMC mandis. # The carrot to lure farmers to private mandis is that the 6-8 % tax currently charged at APMC Mandis will not be charged at private mandis. # This will lead to the APMC Mandis becoming dysfunctional in a few years. Once the APMC Mandis are dysfunctional, MSP will not be available to farmers. At about 8.30 counter, Yogendraji explains that if the govt. has farmers' interest at heart, it would create a level playing field between private mandis and APMC mandis : # Same MSP applicable at private mandis as in APMC Mandis. # Same taxes levied at the private mandis as in APMC Mandis. # Same registration of traders in Private mandi as in APMC Mandi. But the Government is not interested in these amendments as it has no interest in farmer welfare in these laws. They are meant for some other objective. At about 9.20 counter, Yogendraji explains that the loose talk about 'freedom for farmers' is a complete LIE. There is no restriction on farmers since 1975. Any farmer can sell his produce anywhere today also, before these bills were ever passed. The restrictions are not on farmers but on traders. And this game is being played to benefit traders and big business, not farmers. The restriction on traders is this : that trade in agricultural commodities is permitted only inside APMC Mandis (where they exist), as per the rules of the mandis. At 10.55 counter, Yogendraji explains that wherever in the country, APMC Mandis have been removed, farmers' situation has deteriorated remarkably. For example, in Bihar, a law was passed in 2006 (by the same NDA Government) to abolish APMC Mandis. Today all over the country, rice is sold by farmers at 1600-1700 while in Bihar it is sold at 1000-1100 Rs., he says. A study on Bihar last year said that “Farmers are left to the mercy of traders who unscrupulously fix a lower price for agricultural produce that they buy from [them].' The report concluded that 'Bihar’s repeal of the APMC system and consequent increase in price volatility could be one of the reasons for low growth of agriculture in the state.' At 11.40 counter, yogendraji explains that farmers dont want to opt out of the AMC mandi system. They want it strengthened. BJP's claims on protecting MSP will only be believed when it is part of the new law. Already there is not a single law in the country that ensures farmers get minimum support price for their produce. For example, the MSP for corn is 1760 but it is selling at 850-900 rs. a quintal in W Bengal and Bihar (when the interview was being recorded in Sep 2020). Once Minimum Support Price is enshrined in law, the farmers dont mind private mandis or laws for company contract farming etc. At about 14.10 counter Yogendraji explains that a model APMC act was created by the Vajpayee Govt. in 2003 at the center. States were requested to reform their acts in line with the central act to remove anomalies in the functioning of APMC mandis. But even State BJP governments since then did not adopt this model law. Today, crocodile tears are being shed at the centre that state governments have not adopted a model law - when it was the same party in power in most of them in the years past ! At 16.45 counter Yogendraji explains that most of the farmer organizations in Punjab protesting against these bills are not allied to either Congress or the Akalis - they have criticized both parties. At 19.45 counter, Yogendraji says that the talk of private investment in agriculture is laughable as all farmers anyway invest their own resources in farming. Agriculture in India is already in private hands - the farmers' hands. But the Government uses the term 'private investment' only in the context of big companies. The idea is to withdraw from government role in building warehousing, in providing minimum support price, and leave agriculture only to market forces. At 23.15 counter, the interviewer refers to the PM saying that the farmer can now sell his produce everywhere, even export it. Yogendraji responds with a sense of shame, that the 'the PM lies'. He asks to be shown the law in any Indian state that prevents a farmer from selling his produce anywhere - there is no such law anywhere. There is a restriction on exports, which is not dealt with by these three farm bills.

+++++++++++++++++ So what is it that the farmers are asking for ? That MSP be maintained and improved upon. That APMC Mandis be maintained and improved upon. How hard is that for a callous, uncaring Govt. to understand ? And how hard is that for us - the rich of this country, but still dependent on food grown by farmers to understand ? Subsidies to Farmers is a complex subject. Suffice to say that many countries around the world spend similar amounts as India in subsidizing farmers or even more, including Indonesia, China, Japan, US and the EU. Only New Zealand has done away with subsidies and continues to prosper in agriculture.