Context: Farmers from Pujanb, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting for over two weeks. Some farmers from these three states have congregated on the periphery of the National Capital and blocking roads to Delhi as they remain firm on their demand to repeal recently passed farm laws. Thousands of farmers, along with trade unions and opposition parties have joined the protest. The government has assured the agitators that the new laws are for their benefit, however, farmers still fear that their livelihood will be severely affected. At the centre of it all, the farmers are protesting three laws that the Government of India passed during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament in September this year. These are – the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020. They want a complete rollback of the farm laws.
Demand of Farmers
Demand 1: Make Minimum Support Price (MSP) And State Procurement Of All Crops A Legal Right

• This demand can have two-fold effects. Primarily, the storage capacity with the government isn’t that it can hold such huge amounts of crops. Several times we hear news of crops getting wasted due to lack of storage facilities. Any legal right would increase such problems.
• The second issue with this demand is that the private players may refrain from buying the Indian crops in such instances and thus, the farmers will fail to get the maximum benefit.

Demand 2: Accept Recommendations Of The Swaminathan Committee On MSP

• The Swaminathan Commission Report states that the government should raise the MSP to at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production. It is also known as the C2+50% formula.

Demand 3: Repeal Commission On Air Quality Management In NCR And The Adjoining Ordinance 2020

• The commission was set up by the central government via a notification in November 2020. It aims to curb the problem of air pollution in the NCR region. As we are all aware, Delhi gets engulfed by a thick blanket of smog every year in winters which lead to several health hazards.

Demand 4: Slash Diesel Price For Agricultural Use By 50%

This is one of the demands put forth by the farmers. Before we discuss this, I would like to list certain existing subsidies and benefits available to farmers:

• Exemption from income tax
• Fertilizer and power subsidies
• Agricultural equipment, seed and irrigation subsidies
• Credit and export subsidies
• Agricultural infrastructure subsidies

With all these subsidies in place and several other welfare schemes for farmers, it looks wrong to ask for more. The taxpayers in India are limited in number and get no benefits out of their payments. Keeping this and the present economic state of the country in mind, this demand looks unnecessary.

Demand 5: Withdrawal of Cases Against Farmer Leaders All Over India. Poets, Intellectuals, Lawyers, Writers And Human & Democratic Rights Activists, Those Who Have Been Jailed In False Cases Should Be Released
Demand 6: Repeal the Three Laws

• This demand has been at the forefront and is non-negotiable. The farmers are demanding this because the legislation doesn’t necessitate a written contract. Also, in case of dispute, the farmers cannot approach the court.
• They can approach only the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. Though they can approach the court as a consumer according to a Supreme Court judgement, there is an innate feeling of distrust among farmers.
• Additionally, the farmers are also apprehending that the new laws will do away with MSP soon and the agricultural sector will fall in hands of private players where they would have minimum say. The issue of doing away with the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee also exists.

Suggestions to these issues

• The first is, policymakers must listen to the less powerful people in markets. Therefore, institutions that represent small people — associations and unions of farmers, informal workers and small enterprises — must be strengthened, not repressed. When reforms are supposedly in their interests, they have a right to be heard.
• The second is the formation of cooperatives of producers and workers. By aggregating the small into larger-scale enterprises owned by themselves, not only do the producers have more power in negotiations with their buyers, suppliers, and with government, they are also able to retain a larger part of the value they generate and increase their own incomes and wealth. Government regulations must encourage the formation of strong cooperatives, and improve their ease of doing business.
• The third is, market reformers must clean up their ideological lenses and see the reality of where power lies in markets. As Barbara Harriss-White, a scholar of India’s agricultural markets once observed, “deregulated imperfect markets may become more, not less, imperfect than regulated imperfect markets.”

Road Ahead

• Due process is followed in parliament before these three farm loans were asked, it isn't right to protest now after the people representatives have decided in Parliament as far as these particular laws are concerned.
• Large scale reforms were taken in the 90s were regard to economy, manufacturing and we saw lot of Privatisation as well but agriculture left out and subsequently agricultural reforms weren't under taken. Finally we have seen the required development under agriculture sector.
• The only thing wrong is the fact that these reforms are come 3o years too late. Agriculture at the end of the day is a state subject and many of these issues need to be discussed and debated and need to soughted out at the state level and not here at the national capital.