Punjab bills offer little on ground

Three out of 4 payments handed by the Congress-led Punjab authorities on October 20 to negate contentious central legislations on how farmers do enterprise are unlikely to invalidate the legal guidelines already handed by Parliament, and quantity to not far more than a political message at this stage, analysts say.

Last month, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) authorities signed into regulation three payments amid protests by farmers teams — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance, Farm Services Bill, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020.

The legal guidelines permit agribusiness to freely commerce farm produce, allow personal merchants to stockpile important commodities for future gross sales, and lay down new guidelines for contract farming. A vital change is that merchants, agribusinesses and supermarkets can purchase produce from any market, fairly than purchase solely in notified markets the place they’re licenced to function.

These guidelines have frightened some farmers, who worry that the reforms may pave the way in which for the dismantling of the minimal help value (MSP) system, which affords growers an assured value, and depart them susceptible to highly effective agribusinesses and in an excellent weaker negotiating place than earlier than.

The Punjab authorities has introduced three parallel legal guidelines, which say that not one of the central legislations will apply to Punjab.

A fourth invoice, The Code of Civil Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020, is unrelated to the Centre’s reforms. It seeks to exempt agricultural land of small farmers, not exceeding 2.5 acre, from Section 60 of The Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. With this, banks gained’t be capable of public sale land of small farmers who default on farm loans to get better dues.

Governor’s assent unlikely

The three Punjab payments should not legal guidelines but, and require the assent of the Governor, which he’s unlikely to offer. The Governor has three choices, in response to Subhash Kashyap, former secretary basic of the Lok Sabha.

If the Governor doesn’t give his assent, he can withhold the payments indefinitely.

“There is no time frame by which the Governor must take any action [on the bills],” Kashyap stated. The Governor can even ship the invoice for the President’s “consideration”, which implies these payments shall be vetted by the regulation ministry to see in the event that they violate any central legal guidelines or constitutional provisions.

“More Congress-ruled states may follow suit [in passing counter-bills], but given the politics around the issue, it is extremely unlikely that any governor will give assent to these bills. This reminds one of former President Giani Zail Singh, who withheld bills, such as the Postal Bill, indefinitely,” Kashyap stated

‘Nothing substantial’

Farmers organisations say the payments supply nothing substantial.

“The Punjab bills fail to conceptually counter the imposition and facilitation of corporatisation of our farming systems; in fact they validate the concept,” stated Avik Saha, the convener of the All-India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, spearheading the farmers’ protests.

Let’s have a look at the precise provisions of the three payments. The Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020 seeks to amend to Sections 1(2), 19 and 20 of the Centre’s Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, other than including three new Sections, specifically 4, 6 to 11.

The invoice’s preface lays down the context. It says “the direct consequence of this central Act would be to introduce several other infirmities and distortions operating to the grave detriment and prejudice of agriculture and communities associated with it…”

No actual MSP reduction

The invoice has 11 provisions. Notably, Section 2(1)(b) provides authorized safety to MSPs however solely to wheat and paddy. It additionally prescribes punishment of three years in jail in case any dealer “compels or exerts” strain on farmers to promote beneath MSP. “This is not a full victory because farmers still haven’t got anything in hand. It is a victory of principles,” stated Yogendra Yadav, nationwide president of Swaraj India. Farmers, anyway, are supplied MSPs for rice and wheat below the current system and it is going to be troublesome to show {that a} farmer has been compelled to promote beneath MSP.

“What the Amarinder Singh government could have done, had it wanted, is to give a legal backing for all 23 commodities to say that if these commodities are sold below MSP, the government would start procuring these commodities at MSP,” Yadav stated.

Therefore, by limiting the authorized proper to MSP to rice and wheat, the invoice affords nothing new. If the Centre withdraws MSP for rice and wheat, the invoice has nothing to state that the MSP shall be borne by the Punjab authorities.

Other provisions

The second invoice, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020, seeks to amend Sections 1(2), 14 and 15 of the Centre’s Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020. It brings the entire of Punjab below the ambit of the Punjab Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act and states that Punjab authorities reserves the correct to levy charges in any market, together with these arrange outdoors the APMC.

The Centre had handed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 to take out a number of things, resembling pulses, potato, onion, and many others, from the purview of the Act to permit merchants to construct up shares for future gross sales. To counter this, the Punjab authorities handed the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020 and amended part 1(2) and part 3(1A) of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to keep up “status quo ante as on June 4, 2020”. It additional states that the Punjab authorities reserves the correct to impose inventory limits and determine which commodities will qualify to be categorised as important.

“We have passed the bills to check the shortcomings in the farm laws enacted by Parliament last month. We have done our best to address the concerns of farmers and other stakeholders. However, we understand these bills require assent from the President to take shape of laws, and we are not very sure about that. We may have to approach the Supreme Court to implement the bills passed by the state assembly,” Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Punjab’s meals and civil provides minister, stated.

Other states are more likely to comply with the Punjab mannequin, however specialists say it might not result in a lot.