Other occasions when Centre pulled back on farm issues due to public ire

The proposal to put on hold the three farm acts for a year or thereabouts is just the latest in a string of pull-backs by the govt during the past six years or so. Read on

With thousands of farmers protesting on Delhi borders for about two months against the three agricultural Acts, demanding that the laws be repealed, the Central government has not only agreed to amend some of their critical provisions, but in a sudden development also offered to hold back their implementation for around 18 months.

If the laws are held back, that will be a climb down by the Centre, which had called these laws “game-changing” legislation meant to break decades of shackles that gripped farming in India.

Before offering to completely withhold the implementation of the acts, the Centre had offered to amend the laws, which in itself would dilute some of the provisions of the original Acts and modify some of the major highlights of the laws that were meant to create alternative and competitive marketing channels for farmers.

 

Though the protesting farmers have rejected the amendments and want the Acts to go lock, stock and barrel, the proposed changes themselves (before the offer to stop implementation) had been interpreted by some experts as a major climb down by the current government due to sustained public pressure.

“If these dilutions are carried out, the whole essence of providing free markets and reforming agricultural markets will be lost,” Mahendra Dev, director of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, had told Business Standard some time back.

“What was the need for bringing in the Acts in the first place,” Dev had asked.

 

However, this is not the first time the Central government has withheld amendments to an act or diluted or modified some of the critical provisions of a scheme to take its sting off under public pressure in the agriculture and rural sectors.

During the past six years or so, the government had to grudgingly retrace its steps on agriculture and rural issues at least on three occasions following sustained public pressure.

Amendments to the land Bill

Early in its tenure, the Narendra Modi government had to back down on proposed amendments to the Land Act following pressure from the opposition and from its own allies and sister organisations as well.

The Centre had promulgated an Ordinance to amend some key clauses of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, commonly known as the Land Acquisition Act.

One key change proposed was that while the 2013 law required obtaining the consent of 80 per cent of land owners for private projects and 70 per cent for projects on public-private partnership (PPP), the new Ordinance exempted five categories from this provision of the Act.

These were defence, rural infrastructure, affordable housing, industrial corridors, and infrastructure projects, including PPP projects in which the government owned the land.

The Congress kicked up a stink, terming the move a measure to grab land for companies in the guise of development and growth.

A Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) member at Ghazipur border during their protest against the new farm laws, in New Delhi

The Centre said the Act, piloted by the UPA government, was being altered on requests from chief ministers, who found land acquisition difficult under the new law.

However, the Congress and even some of the sister organisations of RSS opposed the changes.

The government relented and dropped the proposed changes, and instead decided to include the provisions of 13 other central Acts within the land Act to enable buyers to get the same benefits.

Crop insurance

The Central government had in 2016-17 launched a crop insurance scheme called the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to provide comprehensive risk cover to farmers against multiple events at a nominal premium.

The scheme, billed as one of the biggest crop insurance programmes in the world, was riddled with difficulties in its inception.

From complaints of delayed claim settlement to states refusing to take on their share of premium subsidy to difficulties in conducting the requisite number of crop-cutting experiments, the PMFBY wobbled.

The scheme, which was compulsory for loanee farmers, was blamed for providing abnormal benefits to insurance companies at the expense of the state exchequer.

Finally, after much deliberation, the government announced in its 2019 manifesto that it planned to make the scheme voluntary for all farmers.

Thereafter, in February 2020, months after taking charge of its second term, the Union Cabinet made the crop insurance scheme voluntary for all farmers.

Though, number shows that there has been 6.5 times increase in voluntary enrollment under the scheme, but overall enrollment numbers have seen a drop after the scheme was made voluntary for all.

Not only that, some other critical changes were brought about in the scheme.

These included limiting the Centre’s share of premium subsidy to 30 per cent for unirrigated land and crops and 25 per cent for irrigated areas and crops.

Some states say after the new guidelines came into force, claims paid by insurance companies in comparison to the premium collected are low while their financial burden has increased manifold because they have to bear 50 per cent of the premium subsidy.