The
title may sound bit preposterous but describes best the people opposing new
Farmer’s Act. It took us more than 70 years of Independence to discover that
peasants are found only in Punjab .They are concentrated only in that part of
India. No other region has ever produced any agricultural product other than
Punjab and certainly not the farmers. Then, who produces it in the other parts
of India ? The conundrum certainly qualifies for the “Discovery of India”.
Thanks to Modi government again! Had he not taken the gumption on the farmers’
bill, which is enacted now, we would not have been enlightened.
For
a section of society and politicians, who are at loggerheads with Modi for
almost two decades, every initiative is against proletariat, pro-corporate,
anti-Muslim and certainly which jeopardizes the Constitution of India. I throw
down the gauntlet on the people to cite any other reason which does not fit
under these criteria for this set of intellectuals. Surprisingly, these
endangered species have support coming from the so-called liberals, drawing
room opinion makers with “Grey Goose” vodka being sipped after cursing Modi,
Lutyens’ Delhi and some international personalities with vested interest. For
them, Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, emerged as a messiah of
farmer’s cause in India. The so-called liberal media , leftists and opposition
parties started quoting him without realizing it to be a blatant and brazen act
of interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state in violation of
the tenets of sovereignty as per the UN charter . India should raise its
concern in United Nations through all available diplomatic means. It is no less
than abetment to separatism in India . Time has come to put the foot down.
Several questions were raised in the sections of Indian and Canadian media for
not according the due respect and protocol to Mr.Trudeau during his visit some
time back. He certainly did not deserve.
There
is a special quality of these liberalists. They feign to be self-proclaimed
perfectionists mastering panacea to each problem that persists world-wide and
derive the power from being anti-establishment. They resemble the spineless
cocoons. Some of our friends would have never planted a pot but how can they
resist the incessant obsession of standing against Mr. Modi in the name of
farmers’ cause. He is the only Prime Minister of India who dared to change the
politics of status quo, without contemplating the outcome in hustings.
Then
I come to the realization by the congress party of India that “Everything can
wait but not the agriculture”- Jawaharlal Nehru quote by congress in its 2019
manifesto. What a confession! that too after around 60 years of their rule. In
its manifesto, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the one and only youth icon that India
possesses, had promised exactly the same changes as implemented by the present
government. Then why so much of brouhaha, from the congress ruled state of
Punjab. Why farmers of other states including some being ruled by same congress
are not protesting. Because there is a bigger design which Capt. Amrinder Singh
also hinted after meeting Mr. Amit Shah few days back. So, has the protest
orchestrated by congress against Modi government gone out of its hand ? Perhaps
so.
Merits
of the Act-The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price
Assurance & Farm Services Act, 2020 explicitly defines the rights and
obligations of the farmer that no legislation has articulated. It addresses
wide gamut of concerns. To start with, the act specifically prohibits lease,
mortgage and transfer of title deeds of farm land. The act provides for the
contract and transfer of produce and not the land. Initially, few miscreants
tried to mislead the farmers citing it to be the nefarious design of Modi (not
even the government) to transfer the land to big corporate, perhaps because of
their experience and past record in Haryana and Rajasthan during the previous
congress regimes.
The
farming agreement can be for a minimum of one crop season and maximum for five
years. There is an interesting clause according to which if the price of the
produce is likely to vary, such agreement shall compulsorily have a guaranteed
price (fixed component) and a premium (variable component). Bereft of an iota
of doubt, no one would have thought of the fixed and variable component in
agriculture which remains to be the sole domain of corporate world and
pink papers. Going further, the onus of the quality checking before accepting
delivery at farm gate rests with the sponsor failing which it is deemed to have
been inspected. Coming to the issue of failed commitment, if the sponsor fails
to honor its part, the farmer shall be compensated by one and half times of the
contracted value. And if the farmer fails, it shall restrict to the cost
incurred by sponsor as advance or input cost. The breach of contract on account
of force majeure shall not hold the farmer guilty and liable. If this was not
enough, the government has also made the provision to keep the contracted farm
produce out of the ambit of Essential Services Act.
The
important and the only provision which is forcing them to take the entire
Delhi,NCR and Western U.P. on ransom is the compulsion of trading of farm
produce by the traders having PAN number issued by Income Tax Act,1961. There
is an apprehension that these traders and brokers who make handsome money by
cheating the farmers of the deserved price, would come under the tax net.
Having
dealt the intricacies of the Farmers’ Act, can the champions of democracy,
supporters of free market and well-wishers of farmers explain why the farmer’s
right to sell the produce in the best available market should be restricted?
Why should they be deprived of their just rights? Is it not their birth right
to sell the produce in the market attracting best price? Ridiculous, isn’t it!
When
the liberals fail to reply logically, their siblings in the form of award
winners emerge to return the accolades. But none of them returns the prize
money along-with the interest of savings bank account for a number of years the
public money utilized. At least, I have not witnessed any such award winner, if
you have, please inform me at – 3vediprabhat@gmail.com.
