Initiative for APMC reforms should have come from states. But it is welcome that Centre is now taking the lead.
Agriculture
is a state subject under the Constitution, but the Green Revolution
wouldn’t have happened without the political leadership at the Centre in
1966 approving the import of 18,000 tonnes of seeds of high-yielding
semi-dwarf wheat varieties from Mexico. The same goes for the Narendra
Modi government’s decision now to enact a Central law to dismantle the
monopoly of agricultural produce market committee (APMC) mandis in the
wholesale trading of farm commodities. It’s all very well to say that
“agriculture” and “markets and fairs” fall under the State List of the
Seventh Schedule. However, state governments have done very little all
these years to remove barriers to trade in farm produce. Farmers, like
any businessmen, should have the freedom to sell their produce to
anyone, anywhere and anytime. This, in turn, is also contingent upon
processors, traders, retailers or exporters being able to buy directly
from them.
Unfortunately,
most state APMC laws today permit first sale of farm produce to take
place only in notified mandis within the particular tehsils or talukas.
Buyers, too, need to obtain individual licenses from each APMC in order
to transact. While some states are granting single unified market
licenses and allowing direct procurement from farmers, even they require
payment of APMC fee — whether or not they are using the infrastructure
of the local mandi. Effectively, then, there is no national market for
agricultural commodities. What we have, instead, are some 2,500 markets
controlled by commission agents, who mediate between sellers and buyers
even when not required. This arrangement is anathema to the spirit of
liberalisation and also goes against Article 301 of the Constitution,
which envisages freedom of trade and commerce “throughout the territory
of India”. If states haven’t really freed agricultural produce trading
even within their own territories, the Centre is well within its rights
to enact a law using the provisions of entry 33 of the Concurrent List.
The latter specifically deals with agricultural produce, including
“foodstuffs”, “cattle fodder” and “raw cotton”.
In
an ideal situation, from a cooperative federalism perspective, the
initiative for APMC reforms should have come from the states themselves.
But there have been times — whether it had to do with the Green
Revolution or the nod to Bt cotton cultivation in 2002 — when the Centre
had to necessarily take the lead. The Modi government must make it
clear that the objective behind its proposed law is not to dismantle
APMCs. Farmers will continue to bring their vv to mandis that have good
infrastructure (auction platforms, weighbridges, godowns, etc) and where
they are likely to find more buyers (Andhra Pradesh’s Guntur Mirchi
Yard for chilli and the Unjha APMC of Gujarat for jeera are good
examples). But that should be a matter of choice, both for farmers and
buyers. APMC monopoly has to go.
(With input from news agency language)
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