Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The BJD has issued a three-line whip to its Rajya Sabha members to be present in the House for voting on three key agriculture sector Bills on Sunday.
Notably, the three Bills — Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 — were passed in the Lok Sabha on September 17.
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar tabled the Bills in Rajya Sabha on Sunday, Hindustan Times reported.
Govt Stand
The Bills will deregularise farm foods from the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) and allow farmers to sell their produce outside government-regulated markets.
According to the government, the bills aim to accelerate agricultural growth through private sector investment in building agricultural infrastructure and supply chains for Indian farm produce in national and global markets.
Farmers Protest
However, farmers believe that the Bills will render the current Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement system ineffective, leaving them at the mercy of “big farmers”. The farmers fear they would be forced to make distress sales to private companies.
