Agri Laws – Opening More Choices for the Farmers to Sell the Produce versus Age Old Middlemen Oriented System

 

If one hears out the agitating farmer leaders speaking on various channels, no one gives a logical reasoning as to why the farm laws are detrimental to farmers.

An analogy for farm produce and market model is given here, for better understanding for those who are still not very clear about the agri laws - A person starts up a business of manufacturing instruments but is barred from selling the instruments in the market directly. Instead he is told to sell through Instrument Manufacturers Market Committee (IMMC) only and inturn IMMC will sell it in the market then actually the startup owner loses on to its fair price and can never flourish. IMMC members on the other hand by selling those very instruments at a premium rake in the moolah! The IMMC is controlled by middlemen who decide the price of the product and charge the startup upto 8 % as their charges, in addition give loans on interest to the startups. How unfair the system is but for years this system makes the startups believe that it is the only way to do it. Suddenly the laws change and there is no requirement to go through the IMMC and a businessman or manufacturer who wants to sell his product in the open market may do so. By this the business startup gets fair price and wider market. These laws would make sure that according to one’s capability one could rake in the money. For a lesser capable startup IMMC process is still there and one can take the manufactured instrument and sell it through IMMC!

80 % to 85% farmers can now sell their produce in the open market and if it is difficult to grow and sell at the same time, then they can do contract farming. Where their produce can be picked up by the firm at the farm land itself. The rest 15% to 20 % farmers were already selling their produce at MSP to government FCIs. With the agri laws in place, the AMPCs middlemen now have to perform, will have to charge less to the farmers, will have to give correct market rates as other players would be competing.

Suddenly they felt that their turf has been reduced and that’s the real reason for their heartburn. They are middlemen but in the garb of a farmer agitating. They don’t have real reason so they don’t want to dialogue and summarily reject the agri laws! Therefore, from Yogendra Yadav to Ugrahan there is only rhetoric and no reasoning. There is only rabble rousing and no logic. There are only protests but no dialogue. The government has time and again requested for a dialogue; they have given proposals but without a dialogue only rhetoric remains. Mr Yogendra Yadav and Ugrahan wants their 2 min TRPs. This will also pass. Remember 1991 when economy was opened, leftists and others brought in many protests and there were 6 Bharat Bandhs. We all know where we are today because of reforms. In 1991 farm reforms were untouched as it was more delicate issue and we had missed the bus then. Now with these laws the farms reforms are here.