I still havent had time to delve into the intricacies of the 3 farm bills. But a friend sent me a video of Yogendraji explaining the essence of the 3 bills.
In the decades I have heard him speak, he is the one of the most measured, well researched, calm, and circumspect speaker on any subject i have heard.
He has no axe to grind with any party and we would do well to pay attention to what he is saying. He says in the video :
# Unlike what BJP acolytes are propagating, none of the bills has been asked for by any farmer's organization across the country, EVER in their history. And now 450 farmer organizations are in protest of the bills for months.
# The government has assumed a deaf year to what the farmers have actually been asking for during lock down.. 1. They asked for compensation as they were not permitted to sell their produce in the mandis for months. 2. Farmers asked for lowering of diesel prices (diesel is used in agriculture). Diesel prices are headed downward throughout the world and are rising only in india. 3. Farmers also asked for compensation for destroyed crops. But the government did none of these things.
Instead, the government SHOVED THREE UNASKED FOR GIFTS DOWN FARMERS' THROATS :
FIRST, THE JAMAKHORI KHOLO KANOON, Yadavji says : There were limits uptill now on the quantities of farm commodities that could be stocked by private entities. Now those limits stand removed.
For whose benefit ? Adani is making silos in Punjab. The stocking capacity of these silos is 100 times bigger than the biggest godowns now available to farmers. So any amounts of rice, wheat, dals can now be stored by private entities.
What will be the likely impact ? Stocks may be released to market just before harvesting of crops, to depress rates available to farmers. Later, when farmers have sold all at low rates, prices will be manipulated by large stockists to make them expensive for consumers.
SECOND, BANDHUA KISAN KANOON, Yadavji says : This does not refer to the contracts farmers do with each other for farming on each other's lands for selected time periods. This law is to facilitate companies contracting farmers for their produce. There is a precedent for this law in the contracts Pepsi company did with farmers in Punjab. Let us say the contract was for potatoes to be sold to Pepsi at Rs. 6 a kg.
The first year the market rate for potatoes when the crop was ready to be sold, was 10 rs. a kg. But the company forced farmers to sell their produce at 6 Rs. still, referring to the contract.
The next year the market rate for potatoes was 4 Rs. a Kg. The farmers asked for the contracted 6 Rs. from Pepsi. But the company said the size and taste of the potato was not proper ! It forced farmers to sell at Rs. 4. a Kg only.
The contract farming law says any complaints should be made to the SDM but farmers dont have access to SDM. Thus farmers will be forced to farm on unacceptable terms, making them Bandhua.
THIRD, MANDI TORO, MSP CHORO KANOON, Yogendraji says : This law says private mandis will be built near APMC mandis. Farmers will not be able to make such mandis themselves as investments in the hundreds of crores will be needed for a mandi.
Initially, the private Mandi owners will offer farmers marginally greater amounts than that being offered by the APMC mandi. So farmers, always trying to survive, will gravitate towards these better paying mandis. but by say the 4th sale season or so, the APMC mandi system will be disfunctional as so many of the farmers will have been persuaded to trade in private mandis.
Once APMC Mandis are no longer an alternative, the private mandis are likely to bring down their rates. Farmers will have no option to sell anywhere else then.
In fact before the whole nation, Jio company of Reliance, employed the same strategy : it promised free net and calls and lured in large nos. of indian mobile customers. Once it reached a critical mass, it suddenly raised prices.
The Mandi system has not been perfect and farmers have many complaints. But for the last many decades, it has given some protection to farmers. Now, Modiji, acknowledging the problems in Mandis, says let us remove this protection altogether - let the farmer enjoy freedom !
Farmers dont want to damage the APMC mandi system. They want it improved.
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