[There have been large and violent agitations in France in Nov
2019 where thousands of tractors marched into Paris. On 27 Apr 2010, tractors
on the France roads had slogan painted, “Carla, help us. We can’t live on love
and water”. (Carla Bruni was the wife of the President of France, Nicholas
Sarkozy.) It has been happening in Germany, Netherland, Denmark, and Ireland.
Our own Farmers agitation in 1988 led by Mahendra Singh Tikait with tractors
and bullock carts moving into the capital and camping in Boat Club right next
to the Parliament during the Rajiv Gandhi govt in 1988 set precedence for large
scale farmers protest in our country.]
By Col Shiv Om Rana PhD
Background
Farmers have been simple folks and an oppressed lot through the ages – from the time the mankind learnt to harvest various produce from the land and forest. Barter system began to fulfil the need within the settlement. Came the middleman who bartered things from one village to another and got his share for the job. Thus, began the era of “Commission Agent/Broker”. It is well neigh difficult, if not impossible, to have direct dealing between producer and the final consumer. Intermediaries grease the wheels of commerce.
I shall be discussing the newly introduced three farm laws and
thereafter. It is easier to dissect in the hindsight. But by discussing this
point, maybe, we can learn to avoid such ineptitude of govt machinery in
future. Current on-going Farmers’ Protest has hurt the economy, inconvenienced
the citizens, and tarnished the image of the country in the international arena.
There have been large and violent agitations in France in Nov 2019 where
thousands of tractors marched into Paris. On 27 Apr 2010, tractors on the
France roads had slogan painted, “Carla, help us. We can’t live on love and
water”. (Carla Bruni was the wife of the President of France, Nicholas
Sarkozy.) It has been happening in Germany, Netherland, Denmark, and Ireland. Our
own Farmers agitation in 1988 led by Mahendra Singh Tikait with tractors and
bullock carts moving into the capital and camping in Boat Club right next to
the Parliament during the Rajiv Gandhi govt in 1988 set precedence for large
scale farmers protest in our country.
What led to the Agitation?
Farmers have been demanding from time to time to improve their income.
Present Govt in 2016 promised to double the farm income in six years. In fact,
all previous govts had also been promising the same. National Commission on
Farmers was constituted in Nov 2004 under the Chairmanship of Prof MS Swaminathan.
The fifth and final report was presented to the Govt in Oct 2006. The reports
contain the suggestions to achieve the goal of “faster and more inclusive
growth” which is also known as Swaminathan Report for farmers. The govt of the
day tried to bring-in the suggested reform and “Opposition Political Parties”
opposed it. Opposition parties of the time brought the reforms now, and the present
opposition parties which were then in power, oppose it.
3 Agriculture Bills
The followings are the three agriculture bills (in brief): -
1.
The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion
and Facilitation) Act 2020, which provides farmers to sell their produce
any place without restriction.
2.
Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement
and Price assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020. This allows farmers to enter in to contract farming and dispute
resolution mechanism, if any.
3.
Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, Removes stock-holding limit of any commodity.
All three bills present doubt in the minds of farmers that trade area
transaction, contract farming and storage have been unregulated and the large
business houses will exploit the farmers.
The three Agriculture bills were first promulgated as an Ordinance in
Jun 2020. They were presented and passed by the Lok Sabha on 17 Sep 2020 by
voice votes (the ruling party has a majority). And the same was passed by the
Rajya Sabha on 20 Sep 2020. The passing of the bill in Rajya Sabha has been considered
controversial by many as the debate on the bill was not allowed and it was
again passed by a voice vote. It must be noted that Smt Harsimran Kaur Badal,
from Shiromani Akali Dal, a long-time ally of the BJP, resigned from the
cabinet to protest the passing of the bill in Lok Sabha and subsequently Akali
Dal left the NDA. Protest of farmers began in Amritsar.
Farmers Protest
Farmers protest had begun in Jun2020 when a small farmers group
protested after the Ordinance was passed. From Sep 2020 the protest escalated
to “Rail Roko” in parts of Punjab and Punjab Bandh.
The Union Govt failed to judge the emotions and sentiments of the
farmers against the laws and paid little attention to allay the fear of the
farmers or agree to have a re-look in the contentious issues of the law.
The farm union leaders began to gather more support from other states as
well. Punjab farmers gave a call to “Dilli Chalo” and in Nov 2020 they began
the march on tractors. Haryana farmers joined. They ultimately reached in the
borders of Delhi where they were stopped, and they camped on the highways. Main
three entry points became the centre of their agitation – Singhu border, Gazhipur
border and Tikri border.
Talks, Talks and Talks
The Secretary of Agriculture began talks with the leaders of the farmers
union which did not achieve any solution. Both sides were adamant: farmers
demanding the repeal of the three laws and legislation on MSP (Minimum Support
Price) and the Govt insisted that the laws were good for the farmers. The farm
union leaders refused to talk to the Secretary of the govt and demanded to talk
to the Prime Minister.
The Agriculture Minister, Narendra Singh Tomar and the Commerce Minister,
Piyush Goyal conducted subsequent talks with the farmers. But even after eleven
rounds of talks, no solution emerged and impasse continues.
Handling of Issues by the Govt
Margaret Thatcher when asked how she successfully implemented various reforms
in the country? She replied that she spends 20 percent of the time in office
and 80 percent of the time is spent on selling the reform before and after the
legislation. Unfortunately, our govt machinery has failed in selling the
reforms. Bureaucrats have failed to assess the implication and reaction to such
reform – be it demonetization, removal of Article 370 & 35A, legislation on CAA,
sudden lock-down or present farms laws.
A top-down policy, uninformed by bottom-up realities, is unlikely to
transform the livelihoods of small farmers in an oligopsnostic environment of
agribusiness. A large number of countries implemented Agri-reforms in the seventies
and eighties.
A study carried out by the London School of Economics to assess the effects
of such reforms was done by Ms Swati Dhingra and Silvana Tenreyro and
concluded, “The rise of agribusiness brings productivity gains to the farmers,
but it also skews the distribution of buyers of farm produce towards larger
firms with greater buyer power. Taking the theory to data, we quantify
behind-the-border to trade embedded in a national policy which encouraged
agribusiness participation. We combine this microdata on household-crop incomes
and find that the policy led to a reduction in incomes of small farmers. Losses
were concentrated among farmers who sold to agribusinesses and in villages with
a comparative advantage in policy-affected crops. On average, their income fell
by 6 percent with no offsetting gains in non-farm channels of income. Profit
margins of agribusinesses specialised in policy-affected crops rose, in line
with the theoretical channel”[1]
Experience of Bihar
Bihar govt had liberalized its agriculture marketing sector in 2006 when
Nitish Kumar became the Chief Minister. But the experiment did not work as
planned. It was assumed that the reforms or removal of the APMC (Agriculture
Produce Marketing Committee) will enhance the income of farmers by allowing them
to free market access and would attract private investment in setting-up cold
storage and warehouses which would help farmers. But on the ground, it did not
work.
Prof Sanjib Pohit of NCAER (Nation Council of Applied Economic Research),
states that not only did prices of farm produce crash but unregulated middlemen
and traders forced farmers to pay for their crops to be offloaded and sold at
their managed price. Initially, it did show a rise in the farmers' income from
2006 to 2010. But the income has been declining thereafter.
Failure of the Govt
The Govt has taken for granted that whatever it does will be implemented
automatically. It does not seem to have made any preparation for the
implementation of the policy change it wanted to bring-in – be it demonetization,
legislation on 370, 35A or CAA, sudden lock-down and the three farm laws.
The Govt needs to sell its policies before and after the announcement
(recall Margaret Thatcher) which began after the situation slipped out of hand.
Brute majority in the legislature can have the legislation on the papers but
the acceptance and implementation can be a herculean task.
The Govt needs to have its ears on the ground and have far and wide
consultations. Just to quote, a farmer leader, Anne-Cecile of France told
during the Farmers protest in Nov 2019, that she had enough of agri-bashing
from both sides. (Govt and farmers). She said “I believe that both sides should
try to be less arrogant. There are fewer and fewer farmers in France.
Therefore, it is important to make the effort to resume dialogue. Everyone has
to understand farming is an overly complex occupation subject to enormous
prejudices, and before judging it, you should go to farm and see for yourself
how things are done.” That is true for India too where farmers are quitting due
to farming being less enumerative.
Conclusion
The three contentious agri-laws have been proposed to be placed under
suspended animation for 18 months by the govt. It is time for the farmers
unions to take advantage of the opportunity and suspend their agitation as well
and give space for discussion, amendments, and implementation. There is a
crying need for reforms in the farm sector. But amendments must be such to bring
in the real income in the pockets of the farmers.
Every state in the country has an Agriculture University to cater to the
state keeping in mind the climate, soil, and water availability. The Govt
should constitute a high-power committee, other than the one ordered by the
Supreme Court, with members from each of such universities, have a wide range
of discussion with agriculture economists and farmers representative. This
process should evolve a consensus among all stakeholders and such reforms
should be legislated.
I appeal to the people let farmer be a farmer: a normal human being, just like you and me, and not make him a “Daataa”. By very use of this word, one creates a halo around them where Daataa is just a giver and needs nothing in return. They have their responsibilities. They must provide for their families – education, healthcare, and a better life. So, consider his demands with compassion and ground realities.
[1] Swati Dhingra and Silvana
Tenreyro : The Rise of Agribusiness and Its Distributional Consequences. London
School of Economics, CEP CEPR, CFM…
