Why Maharashtra is not protesting against Farm bills?

By Indjournals Bureau

Why Maharashtra is not protesting against Farm bills?

Mumbai :All over the india many are wondering why there is not much opposition to the Agriculture Bill in Maharashtra. Opponents of the bill say the existence of MSPs and AGriculture Produce Market committees( APMC) has been threatened. Meanwhile maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar affirms ‘won’t implement Farm bills’.

It has been seen on the one hand, the intensity of this movement is greater in North India. Punjab, Haryana,Uttar Pradesh. Because the country guarantees only large and annual purchases of wheat and rice. She was in these states. With the exception of six per cent (mainly rice and wheat growers), the rest of the farmers get meager benefits of MSP.
Moreover, experts says, the Model Act has been implemented in Maharashtra to some extent for about ten to twelve years. Therefore, reforms such as permission to buy and sell outside the premises of the Market Committee, private market, direct marketing and contract farming are already in force in Maharashtra. Only journalists do not know that. The issue of cess, however, is new and important.The reasons why the market system has not changed radically despite the implementation of these market reforms are hidden in the reluctance of the governments. (All three governments- Congress-NCP and BJP-Army and Central Government). Therefore, there will not be much agitation of farmers in Maharashtra on the issue of this bill. If there is opposition, traders and barriers that will do in coming days.
As farmers across India protest against the recently passed three Farm Bills on Friday, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that the three bills will not be implemented in the state. Seconding his decision, Congress state president and minister Balasaheb Thorat said that as both Congress and NCP had opposed the bills in Parliament, they will not implement in the state.  Its ally Shiv Sena had backed the bill in the Lok Sabha, but had remained absent during the voice-vote in the Rajya Sabha- like the NCP, Congress.

Farmers protests against the 3 bills
In the food bowl of India – Punjab and Haryana, 31 farmer organisations under aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) staged a Bharat Bandh, taking to the streets to block highways. Farmers have already started a three-day rail blockade against the bills and squatted on tracks at many places in Punjab. Similar protests are currently underway in Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu with farmers demanding rollback of the bills. Prime Minister Modi has assured farmers that mandis and minimum sale price will remain, allaying the main concern of farmers and lashed out at the Opposition for ‘spreading rumours.

Sanjay Pansare, director, Navi Mumbai APMC, who is also a member of the Fruits and Vegetables Association, Vashi says there has not been much of an impact of the delisting on the APMC arrivals. “Farmers continue to come to APMCs for the lack of a better alternative. At present, arrivals have been affected due to the Covid pandemic, but all these years, there has been no significant difference due to the delisting of fruits and vegetables,” he said.

According to sources in the sector, the government of Maharashtra has established a high-level committee consisting of the state secretary, senior officials of the agriculture department and agriculture marketing board and chairpersons of three APMCs including those from Latur, Baramati and Hinganghat to study the impact of the recent agri-ordinances announced by the Centre on APMC in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra has around 306 APMCs with an annual turnover of Rs 50,000 crore per annum. Of this fruits and vegetables alone account for Rs 20,000 crore, food grains, pulses and oilseeds account for another Rs 20,000 crore, while spices and dryfruits and other local produce account for the remaining Rs 10,000 crore.

APMCs draw their income from cess which ranges from 0.5% to 1% of the trade value of the commodities. In Maharashtra, the APMC income comes upto Rs 350 crore annually. Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) officials say that delisting of fruits and vegetables has not made any significant difference to revenues since farmers prefer to continue to sell within the confines of the mandi.