FARM LAWS AND REVOCATION

Question 1

What were the FARM BILLS?

Answer 1

The Indian agriculture acts of 2020, often termed the Farm Bills, are three acts initiated by the Parliament of India in September 2020. The Lok Sabha approved the bills on 17 September 2020 and the Rajya Sabha on 20 September 2020. The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, gave his assent on 27 September 2020.

The laws would have deregulated a system of government-run wholesale markets, allowing farmers to sell directly to food processors, but farmers feared that this would result in the end of government-guaranteed price floors, thereby reducing the prices they would receive for their crops. This inspired protests against the new acts.

Question 2

When were the laws published?

Answer 2

5 June, 2020.

Question 3

Grievances related to the bills..

Answer 3

On 12 January 2021, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the farm laws and appointed a committee to look into farmer grievances related to the farm laws. In a televised address on 19 November 2021, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced that his government would repeal the laws in the upcoming parliamentary session in December. On 1 December 2021, the laws were formally repealed. The Supreme Court appointed committee report was made public on 21 March 2022.

Question 4

Background.

Answer 4

India is self-sufficient in the production of various types of food. Despite this, nutrition and hunger are endemic issues in the country despite the large-scale nation-wide welfare schemes in the area. Farmer suicides, and farmer incomes are also serious challenges that have remained unresolved for decades.

Almost 50% of India’s 1.3 billion people rely on agriculture to make a living, though agriculture accounts for less than 20% of India’s GDP.

Question 5

Agriculture in the state, unoin and the concurrent list.

Answer 5

The Constitution of India, Article 246, has three lists; the state list mentions “agriculture” 6 times, the union list 4 times, and the concurrent list 2 times.

Question 6

FARM ACTS 2017..

Answer 6

In 2017, the central government released a number of model farming acts. The Standing Committee on Agriculture (2018–19), however, noted that several reforms suggested in the model acts had not been implemented by the states. In particular, the Committee found that the laws that regulated Indian agricultural markets (such as those related to agricultural produce market committees or APMCs) were not being implemented fairly and honestly or serving their purpose. Centralization was thought to be reducing competition and (accordingly) participation, with undue commissions, market fees, and monopoly of associations damaging the agricultural sector.

A committee consisting of seven Chief Ministers was set up in July 2019 to discuss implementation. The committee is yet to submit its report. The centre promulgated three ordinances in the first week of June 2020.

Question 7

WHAT WERE THE THREE FARM LAWS?

Answer 7

1. Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
   expands the scope of trade areas of farmers’ produce from select areas to “any place of production, collection, aggregation”.
   allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce.
   prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess, or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for the trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.
2. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020
   provides a legal framework for farmers to enter into pre-arranged contracts with buyers including mention of pricing.
   defines a dispute resolution mechanism.
3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020
   removes foodstuff such as cereals, pulses, potato, onions, edible oilseeds, and oils, from the list of essential commodities, removing stockholding limits on agricultural items produced by Horticulture techniques except under “extraordinary circumstances”
   requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce only occur if there is a steep price rise.

Question 8

COURT STAY ON THE LAWS.

Answer 8

On 12 January 2021 the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the farm laws. The Supreme Court appointed a committee to look into the grievances related to the farm laws. The committee asked the public for suggestions related to the farm laws by 20 February 2021.

Question 9

Which state assemblies countered and asked to amend the laws?

Answer 9

The Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh state assemblies tabled bills to counter and amend the centers three farm laws.

Question 10

Government response..

Answer 10

On 20 September 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the bills as a watershed moment in the history of Indian agriculture and stated the bills will “ensure a complete transformation of the agriculture sector” and EMPOWER TEN MILLION of farmers.

Several Union Ministers urged farmers not to have misconceptions about the reforms. Rejecting demands for the inclusion of Minimum Support Price (MSP) as a mandatory provision in the Farm Bills, Narendra Singh Tomar, the Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare said that, while the government was committed to MSP, it was “not a part of the law” earlier and “is not” today.
Modi announced on 19 November 2021 that his government will repeal the three bills once the new session of Parliament started later that month.

Question 11

current minister of agriculture.

Answer 11

Narendra Singh Tomar.

Question 12

Key points of budget for FY2022-2023 for agriculture.

Answer 12

Agriculture is considered under one of the main four pillars of the budget that is the “INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT”
1. the procurement of estimated Rabi wheat and Kharif paddy is 1208 lakh metric tonnes from 163 lakh farmers in 2021-2022 and 2.37 lakh crores direct payment of MSP value to their accounts.

2. Chemical Free Natural Farming is promoted with a focus on farmer’s land in 5km wide corridors along ganga river in the first stage.
3. Reduction on dependence on imports of oilseeds: a comprehensive scheme to increase domestic production of oilseeds will be implemented.
4. High-tech agriculture is promoted through delivery of digital and hi-tech services to farmers through PPP mode will be launched.
5. KISAN DRONES PROMOTED:FOR crop assessment, digitization of land records, spraying of insecticides and nutrients.
6. states will be encouraged to revise the syllabus of agricultural universities.
7. Blended fund raised under Co-investment model will be facilitated through NABARD for financing agri-startups..

Question 13

When was the MODERN APMC act passed?

Answer 13

2003.

Question 14

Minimum Support Price is given on how many crops in INDIA?

Answer 14

23.

Question 15

Farmers are demanding MSP as recommended by which commission?

Answer 15

SWAMINATHAN COMMISSION of 2004. A key recommendation of the committee, which submitted its final report in October 2006, was that minimum support price (MSP) for all crops be fixed at a premium of 50 per cent over the cost of production.

swaminathan commission report on MSP is also known as

C2+50 formula..

Question 16

Which year has been announced as the “International Year of Millets”?

Answer 16

2023.

Question 17

NABARD.

Answer 17

NATIONAL BANK FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT.
NABARD was established on 12 July 1982 through the merger of agricultural lending functions of RBI and the refinance functions of ARDC (Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation). The organisation was set up with an initial capital of Rs.100 crore by the late PM Smt. Indira Gandhi. The paid-up capital of NABARD was at Rs.10,580 crore on 31 March 2018. NABARD is now completely owned by the Indian Government.

Question 18

RIVER-INTERLINKING PROJECTS.

Answer 18

A supreme court bench of justice B.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna recused from hearing a matter related to distribution of Krishna water dispute between ANDHRA PRADESH, TELANGANA, MAHARASHTRA AND KARNATAKA.

THE rules regarding the recusal is laid down in neither section of constitution.

Question 19

When was the First krishna-water disputes tribunal formed?

Answer 19

1st dispute tribunal formed in 1969, which presented its report in 1973.
2nd dispute tribunal instituted in 2004 which presented the report in 2010..

Question 20

Which article provides for the inter-state water disputes?

Answer 20

ARTICLE 262.

Question 21

TRIBUTARIES TO KRISHNA RIVER..

Answer 21

GHATAPRABHA, MALAPRABHA AND TUNGBHADRA.

Question 22

What is the KEN-BETWA PROJECT?

Answer 22

Implementation of this project at an estimated cost of Rs. 44605 crores. Aimed at providing irrigation benefits to 9.08 lakh hectares of farmer’s land , drinking water supply to 62 lakh people, 103 MW of HYDRO and 27 MW of SOLAR power. Allocation of 4300 crore in RE2021-2022 and Rs. 1400 crores in 2022-2023 have been made for this project.
project will be delivered in 8 years.

KEN RIVER and BETWA RIVER: both are tributaries to YAMUNA.
KEN flows from PATNA Tiger reserve. BETWA flows from RAISEN, CUMBRA village

Question 23

Under the project which dam is being built?

Answer 23

DAUDHAN DAM will be built in this interlinking project of KEN-BETWA.
Beneficiary states from DAUDHAN DAM: MADHYA PRADESH AND UTTAR PRADESH.

This is been done beacuse a total of 13 districts of M.P. AND U.P. are in the DROUGHT prone region of Bundelkhand.

Question 24

Independent analysis regarding the farm laws.

Answer 24

IN SUPPORT: Gita Gopinath, the Chief Economist of International Monetary Fund, said the “farm bills and labour bills are very important steps in the right direction”. She also stressed that the implementation of these laws must be right. In January 2021, 866 academics from several educational institutes signed an open letter, expressing their support for the three farm laws.

IN OPPOSITION: Kaushik Basu, former chief economist of the World Bank called the new farm bills are “flawed” and “detrimental to farmers”. In February 2021, 413 academics from across India and several foreign universities said in a statement that the new farm bills pose a major threat to Indian farming communities and urged the government to abandon it.

Question 25

Response from farmers and opposition parties.

Answer 25

IN SUPPORT: The Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers union in Maharashtra, supported the bills and wanted the market to decide the prices of agricultural commodities. It argued that the minimum support prices have actually weakened farmers, instead of empowering them.

IN OPPOSITION: On 31 December 2020, the Kerala legislative assembly passed a resolution against the farm reforms seeking their withdrawal. It was the fifth state to do so after Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and Delhi. The West Bengal assembly became the sixth state on 28 January 2021. The Punjab assembly passed another resolution against the central farm laws in the beginning of March 2021. Various opposition parties alleged that the bills were passed “unconstitutionally” in “complete disregard” of parliamentary norms and are anti-farmer and corporate-friendly. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), a farmers organization, has demanded that the government send the bills to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and questioned the government’s haste to get the bills passed.

Question 26

MAJOR POINT OF CONCERN..

Answer 26

Lack of statutory support in the bills for the MSP is a major point of concern, especially for farmers from Punjab and Haryana, where 65% of wheat (2019) is procured at MSP by the Food Corporation of India and state agencies. The protesters pointed out that the deregulation of the sugar industry in 1998, which paved the way for private establishments, did not result in a significant improvement in farmers’ productivity or incomes. A state-led attempt in Bihar to deregulate the APMCs in 2006 has not resulted in an increase in farmers’ income or improved infrastructure.

Question 27

PROTESTS.

Answer 27

Several farmers’ outfits announced an intensified agitation against the acts and called for a “Bharat bandh” on 25 September 2020. This was supported by as many as 10 CENTRAL TRADE UNIONS and 18 POLITICAL PARTIES.

Farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union chief RAKESH TIKAIT were the biggest faces of the ongoing movement against agricultural laws. An attempt was made to take administrative action on the farmers agitating under the leadership of Rakesh Tikait on the Ghazipur border of Delhi, but Rakesh Tikait did not budge with his intentions and during this time pictures and videos of ‘tears’ in his eyes appeared in the media. And it gave a new ‘edge’ to this movement of farmers.

Question 28

REPEAL OF THE LAWS.

Answer 28

On the occasion of Gurupurab on 19 November 2021, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced that his government would repeal the three acts during the upcoming winter session of Parliament in December. In a televised address, Modi lamented his government’s inability to convince farmers of the law’s advantages, saying:…despite several attempts to explain the benefits to the farmers, we have failed. On the occasion of Guru Purab, the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws.
On 29 November 2021, the Indian parliament passed the bill to repeal farm laws in the country. The bill was passed without a debate in both the lower house i.e. Lok Sabha and the upper house i.e. Rajya Sabha, despite several demands of it.

Question 29

OTHER PROTESTS AND PROTEST WITHDRAWAL.

Answer 29

The national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, Rakesh Tikait, stated the protests would only cease once the laws were repealed, and if a Minimum Support Price guarantee law is passed through the Parliament, by the will of the government and also to form a committee for the purpose of direct communication for other farm interests of farmers with the Government of India and the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.