Unlimited Freedom for Agri-Business, Slavery for Peasantry

Narendra Modi led BJP Government promulgated three ordinances on 5^th June 2020 – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance 2020, Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 2020. These are part of the so called “Atmanirbhar Bharat” package announced by the Prime Minister. The BJP government claimed that these would bring “freedom’ to the farmers who can now ‘sell their produce to anybody at any price’. But in reality, these ordinances give total freedom to the corporate/agri-business to purchase any produce from any farmer at any price.

These ordinances are meant to ensure a complete paradigm shift in land management, procurement and trade in agriculture in favour of big-landlords and corporates including foreign agencies. This will ultimately end government’s responsibility and obligation to ensure remunerative price to peasants, of procurement of agri-produce at remunerative prices and food security for the nation.

The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) aimed at ensuring food security, helped in preventing hoarding and black marketing of essential commodities, especially in times of crises. The Amendment made to the ECA removes essential commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from regulations. According to the amendment the processors, aggregators and big traders can procure any quantity of crops, stockpile, sell and export at the rates as dictated by the neo-liberal market even at the time of a war, natural calamity or famine! This is nothing but legalising black marketing and hoarding.

In the name of complete deregulation of trade on agricultural produce, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 allows agricultural produce to be purchased without auctions and regulatory supervision by the concerned authority. It would actually mean that sale of the agri-produce will be through grossly unequal bilateral negotiations between large landlord-corporate traders clique on the one side and poor peasants on the other. In such an unequal relationship, it is anybody’s guess how far the stipulation in the ordinance that the trader should prepare and implement fair trade practices including timely payment, would be implemented.

Neither this ordinance nor the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance 2020 has any provision for Minimum Support Price, as promised by BJP in its election manifesto, leave alone remunerative price. It does not even guarantee the price paid at APMC. It is to be noted that lack of remunerative price is the cause of farmers’ distress, not restrictions in marketing.

These ordinances are aimed at the “one nation, one market’ plan of the BJP government, which in reality means total centralisation of political, economic and social power dismantling the federal structure of the country.

These ordinances bring agriculture and agricultural trade into a centralised system without any restriction of state boundaries or taxation. They overrule the state Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, although agriculture is a state subject.  They also put in place a monitoring and conciliation mechanism bypassing the states and even the judiciary! They stipulate that “no civil court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceedings”. This in effect means that a farmer cannot approach a court of law in case of any dispute between him and a big trader. Under our Constitution, a law may regulate but cannot negate the Judiciary. Thus, the ordinance is illegal and unconstitutional.

The Model Contract Farming Act sent by the Modi government and being implemented by many states has deregulated food items from coverage. Through this, the big landlord corporate nexus can directly drive farmers anywhere in the country to produce as per the requirements of agri-business companies. This is adversely affecting land use, food security and environment. Its main purpose is land consolidation and promotion of contract farming as well as lease of farm land by corporate companies. This dispossesses the peasantry and ensures corporatisation of peasant agriculture. This is nothing but a nefarious game plan to destroy peasant agriculture and replace it with corporate and contract farming.

Peasant organisations and the central trade unions have demanded the scrapping of these disastrous anti national ordinances.

RSS, which used to talk much about a ‘Swadeshi’ development model, is totally silent on these. Neither has any political party, except the Left parties, raised its voice seriously against these dangerous and disastrous attacks on our agriculture and the farmers. It is only the Left, which is strongly opposing these anti farmer and anti people ordinances.

Working class cannot remain a bystander, or keep aloof, to such attacks on our peasants and on the food security of our people. Class conscious trade union movement must unitedly oppose these measures of the authoritarian BJP government, committed to neoliberalism. Remember, peasants and workers together were able to defeat the notorious Land Acquisition ordinance during Modi’s previous tenure. We can do it again, now.

The Modi led BJP government is mistaken if it thinks that it can utilise the lockdown period, when workers and farmers are in distress and immobilised to push such anti worker anti farmer measures. This is nothing but an illusion spread by a government committed to the crises ridden capitalist system, to maximise profits and multiply the wealth of the corporates, domestic and foreign. We must prove it wrong.

Nothing in the world is a match for the united strength of workers, peasants and agricultural workers, the producers of wealth in any society. CITU, AIKS and AIAWU are committed to strengthen such unity and take the united struggles to a higher level of defiance and resistance, till these policies are changed.