Rajya Sabha passes Farm bills | Fusion - WeRIndia

Two agriculture-related Bills, The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill have been passed in Rajya Sabha amid the ruckus.

Earlier, Lok Sabha passed these two bills along with the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.

While the first bill enables farmers to sell their products across the country wherever they want, the second bill helps farmers enter into contracts with agri-business companies to sell their crops.

As per the DNA report, 52 per cent of Indians are related to agriculture. The average annual earnings of farmers are ₹77,000. As per the survey of NABARD, the average debt burden on Indian farmers is more than their average annual income. The debt burden is one of the main reasons for their suicides.

While India is an agricultural country, the global share in the export of agricultural products is very meagre with two and a half per cent as per the trade statistics 2014 of WTO.

While more than two-thirds of rural youth are engaged in agriculture, only one per cent want to become a farmer and the remaining do not want to choose it.

The CSDS Report 2018 states that nearly 76 per cent of farmers find farming difficult and want to do something else.

Now the government proposed one nation one market policy for farmers to get a better price for their produce. It ensures to double the income of farmers by 2022 with the new bills. The bills intend to benefit small and marginal farmers and these bills enable them to access to modern technology.

However, farmers across various states like Haryana, Punjab and Telangana are protesting against the bills. Their main concern is about getting Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their produce. They fear that the price of commodities may be dictated by the companies. Also, big businesses and companies can benefit more, putting them at a disadvantage.

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