India's Agricultural Reforms Must Place Farmers Above Political Interests

• Published date: 08 June 2021
• Subject Matter: Government, Public Sector, Real Estate and Construction, Government Contracts, Procurement & PPP, Land Law & Agriculture
• Law Firm: Dua Associates
• Author: Mr Iqbal Tahir

Three recently-enacted laws seek to reform India's existing regulatory framework with regards to the agriculture sector. The tabling of the bills (now laws) in Parliament and the enactment thereof have been mired in controversy. On one hand, the Indian government has been accused of bypassing parliamentary procedures and passing the bills unilaterally without the involvement of states or referring the bills to a standing committee of Parliament. On the other, opposition parties and farmers are denouncing the new laws as anti-farmer and exploitative. Some are even going so far as to call them "death warrants."

To fully comprehend the nuances of the three laws, we need to go back at least two decades to the genesis of agricultural reforms in India. The first-ever National Agricultural Policy (NAP) was announced in the year 2000, as part of a government-proposed concept called the "Rainbow Revolution." Among various provisions, the NAP envisaged that "private sector participation will be promoted through contract farming and land leasing arrangements to allow accelerated technology transfer, capital inflow and assured market for crop production, especially of oilseeds, cotton and horticultural crops."

Since then, several developments have taken place which finally culminated in three agricultural reform bills that were recently enacted into law by both houses of Parliament and have also received the President's assent. During these two decades, various committees, task forces and commissions recorded their observations and put forth several proposals, some of which are highlighted below:

Even a cursory reading of the above will indicate that over the years, observations and proposals have mainly focused on:

• reforms to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs)
• repeal/review of the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) and other laws that have outlived their utility, and
• removal of restrictions to enable the free movement of agricultural commodities across the country

Regulatory reforms pose a complex problem in a country where over 40% of the population, predominantly in rural areas, is employed in agriculture. What compounds the problem even further is that agriculture is a state subject, and agricultural markets have so far been regulated by state-specific laws under the APMCs.

Erstwhile regulations under the APMCs mandated that sale/purchase of notified agricultural commodities could take place only through mandis or wholesale markets regulated by...