Mainstream media may ignore the questions of unemployed youth and farmers, but in the real India, their voice is constantly getting louder. The trend of unemployment day as number one on social media on the occasion of Prime Minister Modi's birthday and the resignation of a minister of NDA's ally from the Modi government is a result of that heat. For almost two weeks, the unemployed have been warning the government by clapping in various parts of the country. The agitation of farmers in Punjab and Haryana has been steadily increasing. Not only educated youth and workers but also professionals are increasing the crowd of unemployed. In the last three months, professionals from many sectors like engineers, accountants have been out of employment. According to the latest CMI figures, their number has reached 66 lakhs. This number does not seem to stop here. It is expected to increase further. MGNREGA was appreciated for rural employment in the Kovid era, but its reality is that the wages of 782 crores of MNREGA laborers have not been paid in ten states of the country.
The total number of job losers in the country has exceeded two crore. All the doors of employment are closed. Even large companies have lacked opportunity. The government of Uttar Pradesh has thrown up a new jumala of contractual employment. The unemployed in UP are strongly opposed to this. Allahabad, which is now Prayagraj, is becoming a major center of this protest. Despite this, there is no question for mainstream media. Rage of the youth is rarely unheard of in this way. Experts have clearly said that the Central Government does not have any action plan to generate employment. The move to sell profit-making public sector companies has made the situation complicated. Small and medium-scale industries are stagnant and even large industries have failed to generate jobs, doing layoffs. The BJP leaders promised to provide employment to the youth during the elections, but even after so much years, the leaders did not fulfill their promise. It is the policy of the government to provide employment to unemployed youth. Due to this, the number of unemployed youth in the country is increasing.Today most of the educated youth are wandering unemployed. Job is not being given even after selection. Some youngsters deviate from the path by eating. Therefore, the government should work in this direction. During elections, breathtaking promises are made to grab the votes of the youth, but later all the promises are forgotten. There is anger among the youth. The number of unemployed in India is estimated to be 1.86 crore in the year 2018. Also, this number is estimated to increase to 1.89 crore in the next year, i.e. 2019. According to statistics, India has become the most unemployed country in the world. Currently 11% of the country's population is unemployed. These are people who are eligible to work, but do not have employment. If we look at this percentage in numbers, it is found that about 120 million people in the country are unemployed. Apart from this, there has been a tremendous increase in the unemployment rate in the last three and a half years. 550 jobs have been reduced everyday and self-employment opportunities have decreased. The figures which have come face to face among all these exercises show that the situation of the country is very bad on the issue of employment. Modi government had made big claims about skill development, but so far no concrete result has been revealed.
The farmers are also against the central government bill which Narendra Modi is seeing as a big revolution in the agricultural sector. This legislator has been introduced in Parliament and passed in Lok Sabha on the basis of authoritarian majority. Earlier, the Center had issued three ordinances, which have been defended by the Prime Minister. These three ordinances –
• the Products, Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance 2020,
• Farmer Empowerment and Protection Ordinance
• Essential Commodities (Amendment).
The agricultural sector of India has long been a crisis by reversing only in paper debates. This crisis has deepened in the post-Covid era. The agriculture sector has a great importance in the total GDP of India. The tragedy of Indian politics is that it has to depend on farmers and workers in the unorganized sector for votes, but its policies are corporate. The corporate sector has been eyeing the agriculture sector for a long time. Narendra Modi may say that with this agrarian reform, farmers will get new opportunities to sell their produce, which will increase their profits. With this, our agriculture sector will get the benefit of modern technology, whereas the farmers will be empowered. But farmers are not seen trusting this.
Why are these central government bills promising to increase farmers' income by the year 2022? Why do farmers feel that the government wants to snatch their mandis and give them to corporate companies? Why do farmers think that this move of the government is anti-farmer. Let’s try to understand this:-
It is absolutely true that there are many problems with APMC mandis, the farmers are not happy with this but the new system of government is also not right. This ordinance states that big traders will be able to buy produce directly from farmers, but it does not say how farmers who do not have the ability to negotiate, will take advantage of it? The government is talking about creating a nation, a market, but it does not know how a farmer who cannot sell his crop in his district will be able to sell it in the state or another district. Do the farmers have so much resources and will it cost to take them to distant mandis? Section 4 of this ordinance states that money will be given to the farmer in three working days. If the farmer is stuck in money, he will have to make frequent trips to another mandal or province. Neither a farmer with two to three acres of land has the strength to fight nor can he make his deal on the Internet. An important point is also that in case of a dispute between the farmer and the company, the court cannot be approached under this ordinance.
The thing to note here is that the administrative officers are always under the pressure of the government and the government always stands in favor of the traders and companies, because at the time of elections, traders and companies donate to political parties. Courts are not under the government and every Indian has the right to go to court for justice, so the question arises that why the constitutional right is being taken away from the farmer here?
The new ordinance will make it very difficult for the farmers to get justice. It is also to be noted that the Central Government has not given any guarantee that purchase of farmers' goods by the private PAN card holder, company or super market will be done on MSP (Minimum Support Price). The question is also here that small farmers need money quickly by selling crops, so in such a situation, they will be forced to sell crops at a lower price. So how will the farmer survive in front of the big player? Because the biggest danger from this ordinance of the central government is that when the crops are ready, then the big companies will deliberately drop the prices of the farmers' goods and store it in large quantities which they will later sell to the customers at higher prices. Will sell The APMC Act was enacted by individual state governments to ensure procurement of MSP of farmers' crops in mandis and to curb traders.
According to the law, the control of APMC mandis should be with the farmers, but there too, the traders formed gangs and started looting the farmers. While the APMC Act has many problems on the one hand, which needs improvement, on the other hand, one of its biggest advantages is that under this, it becomes the responsibility of the government to procure farmers' goods at the MSP. Now through the new ordinance, the government wants to completely abdicate its responsibility and accountability for the purchase of farmers' goods on the MSP.
The most important question here is that when the farmers do not buy the produce at certain places, then how will the government be able to calculate whether the farmers' goods are being procured at the MSP? What the government is calling reform is already implemented in many countries like America, Europe and despite this, the income of the farmers there has decreased. Bihar has not had APMC since 2006 and it is because of this that traders buy foodgrains from Bihar at a cheaper price and sell the same thing to MSP in Punjab and Haryana as there is a network of APMC mandis here. If the government thinks this much for the benefit of the farmers, then it should bring another ordinance that gives legal rights to MSP to the farmers, which will ensure that there will be no purchase from anyone below the MSP. This will encourage the farmers. Nowadays, the products on which farmers do not get MSP, are forced to sell them at a lower price.The largest share of wheat and rice in Punjab is either produced by the FCI, or the FCI buys it. During the Rabi marketing season during 2019-2020, Punjab supplied 130 lakh metric tonnes of wheat out of around 341 lakh metric tonnes of wheat purchased by the Center. The agrarians fear that the FCI will no longer be able to buy from state mandis, causing a loss of around 2.5% to agents and commissioners. At the same time, the state will also lose its six percent commission, which it has been putting on the purchase of the agency. This ordinance that allows farmers to sell their produce in the open market is a shock to farmers and also, it will prove to be a big shock mainly for the urban commission agents and mandi laborers as well as landless farm laborers. The mandi system will be end with this decision of the government. This will harm farmers and benefit corporates and middlemen. In the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, One Nation, One Market is being talked about, but through this the government wants to end the monopoly of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC). If it is abolished, then the arbitrariness of the traders will increase, the farmers will not get the right price for the produce.
30 years ago, farmers in Punjab entered into an agreement with PepsiCo to grow potatoes and tomatoes. Section 2 (f) of this ordinance shows for whom it is made. The FPO has also been considered as a farmer and in the event of a dispute between the farmer and the businessman, he has also been made a middleman. If there is a dispute in this, the loss is to the farmers. He has to go to the settlement board within 30 days to resolve the dispute. If not resolved there will be a case with the SDM as per Section 13. The appeal of the order of the SDM will be with the District Officer and on winning the farmers ordered to be paid 85 percent of the country's farmers have two-three acres of holdings. In case of dispute, their entire capital will be spent to advocate and visit the offices.
So, in my opinion, Under this new ordinance, the farmer will remain as a laborer on his own land. Through this ordinance, the central government wants to impose western model of agriculture on our farmers, but the government forgets that our farmers cannot be compared to foreign farmers because we have a land-population ratio different from western countries and we have farming here -What is the means of livelihood while in western countries it is business. Contract farming leads to exploitation of farmers. Last year in Gujarat, the PepsiCo Company sued the farmers for several crores, which was later withdrawn due to opposition from farmer organizations. Under contract farming, the companies' goods before the farmers sowing the crops They promise to buy at a fixed price, but later when the crop of the farmer is ready, the companies tell the farmers to wait for some time and later the produce of the farmers is rejected as being spoiled. The point to understand is that 85% of the small farmers are in our country, the farmers do not have long-term storage system i.e. this ordinance has been brought by big companies for black marketing of agricultural products. Companies and super markets will store agricultural products in their big warehouses and later sell them to customers at higher prices. "Farmers' organizations say that this change will not reduce black marketing but will lead to hoarding. The government has already changed the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 quitely and has allowed food grains to be stored in private hands. Now the government will have no control over it. Earlier, the traders used to buy the crops at staggering prices of the farmers and store them for black marketing, the Essential Commodity Act 1955 was enacted to stop it. Under this, traders were prohibited from storing more than a limit of agricultural products. Now the ban on storage of potato, onion, pulses, oilseeds and oil has been lifted under this new ordinance. The thing to understand now is that 85% of the small farmers are in our country, farmers do not have a long storage period. As it is, the farmer currently has very little income, be it a small farmer or a big farmer, he is not able to hold his produce for long as the farmer needs money soon after harvesting.
In the midst of the Corona crisis, this control was in the hands of the government, so people did not face the least problems of grain. This will gradually collapse the entire rural economy related to agriculture. Private traders decide the supply chain on their own and run the market, which will directly affect the customers. So, yhis law is not only against the farmers, but against the entire Indians. The Central Government had not heard any plea or appeal of the State Government and taking unilateral decisions, enforced the law and attacked the rights of the states too. It is also a case of legislative redundancy and a direct attack on the federal structure of the Constitution
The most important thing to see here is that for any number of days, the farmer could store his produce before storing it, which was a legal restriction, it was only on the storage of big companies and traders, it has been removed so how can it be farmer friendly Decided? With this, only Dhanna Setho has got the full opportunity to do black marketing, got the legal right to do black marketing. That is, this ordinance has been brought by big companies for black marketing of agricultural products, these companies and super markets will store agricultural products in their big warehouses and later sell them to customers at higher prices. The farmer will be badly affected by this, but the common consumer of the country will also suffer from inflation.
The farmer worries a month before planting and is confused about which crop to sow, so he often chooses which crop is higher. Think the rate will be high at the time of sowing of the extra stored crop by the big industrialists, then the farmer will sow the expensive crop. But after 4 to 5 months of sowing the crop of the farmer will come in the market, by then the big pliers will bring their stocked crop back to the market again. Due to this, prices will again fall drastically till the harvest of the farmer. In such a situation, the farmer will be exploited again. Then, by purchasing big players, they will stock the cheap crop of the farmer and will increase its price, this sequence will continue.
Here we should also discuss America where there is Open Market Commodity Act since 1970 which means that the system that is changing in India today is in the US since 50 years ago. There, big companies like Walmart and Nexus buy the crops of the farmer and store it like this. The result of this is that in a 2018 study in the US, 91% of the farmers were indebted. Those with $ 425 billion in debt and 87% of American farmers today want to quit farming. But the farmers there today are only surviving with government help. Today in the US, the farmer gets government subsidy of 242 billion dollars i.e. about 7 lakh crore rupees. So it is clear from this that the present government wants to implement the model which has spread in America.
The third ordinance is - Farmers Agreement on Price Insurance and Farm Services Ordinance. Under this, contract farming will be encouraged in which big companies will do farming and farmers will only work in it. Under this new ordinance, the farmer will remain as a laborer on his own land. Through this ordinance, the central government wants to impose the western model of agriculture on our farmers. Although this model is not new in our country, contract farming is already being done in the country. Examples are tomato and capsicum cultivation in Madhya Pradesh, flowers and Honor cultivation in Maharashtra, cashew cultivation in Karnataka, drug cultivation in Uttarakhand. Which is not more beneficial for the farmers. The old model is still being promoted with so much hullabaloo that farmers. The whole picture and destiny will change, but the government forgets that our farmers cannot be compared to foreign farmers because we have a land-population ratio different from western countries and we have the means of farming and livelihood. It is business in countries.
Experience shows that contract farming leads to exploitation of farmers. Last year, PepsiCo Company sued the farmers for several crores in Gujarat, which was later withdrawn due to opposition from the farmers' organizations. Under contract farming, the companies promise to buy the farmers' goods at a fixed price before sowing the crops, but later when the crop of the farmer is ready, the companies ask the farmers to wait for some time and later on the farmers The product is rejected as being defective.
This act does not guarantee that the farmer's goods will be bought by the company. Then the question arises that if the farmer will grow 100 bananas with hard work and the company rejects 25 of his bananas as bad or small, then where will that farmer sell ..?
Again:
• Only traders are exempted from mandi tax and law and order there.
• Traders and companies have the legal right to storage and black marketing.
• Contract farming has given the companies the right to cultivate and promote the farmer will only become a laborer of his farm.
If there is nothing in these ordinances for the farmer, then our request to our Prime Minister is that you should not spread the propaganda by describing them as farmer-friendly and do not consider the farmer so foolish. In these ordinances neither the farmer is guaranteed to get the MSP of the crop nor is there a guarantee of selling the entire crops.
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