The draft Nationwide Coverage Framework on Agricultural Advertising and marketing, issued on November 25, 2024, has sparked widespread debate and concern. The discharge of this draft coverage comes simply three years after the historic farmer agitation towards the three contentious farm legal guidelines, which had been perceived by farmers nationwide as a transfer handy over the agricultural advertising and marketing system to giant personal companies. The agitation, thought-about the biggest and longest in India’s historical past, culminated within the Prime Minister saying the repeal of those legal guidelines in November 2021. Regardless of this, lots of the farmers’ calls for, together with the statutory assure of minimal help costs (MSP) for all crops, stay unresolved. Farmers allege that this assure was a part of the circumstances agreed upon by the federal government through the withdrawal of the agitation. Nonetheless, a passable decision has but to be reached, even after a number of discussions with Punjab’s farmer organisations within the lead-up to the 2022 Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections.
The coverage goals at addressing long-standing challenges in agricultural advertising and marketing via a unified nationwide method. (HT File)
The timing of this draft coverage is especially delicate. Farmers proceed their protests on the Punjab-Haryana border in Shambhu, blocking site visitors, and are continuously thwarted of their makes an attempt to march on foot to Delhi. With one other march deliberate for December 14, the federal government’s restricted 15-day interval for public feedback on the draft coverage has solely intensified apprehensions. This method has led to hypothesis that the federal government may be making an attempt to reintroduce parts of the repealed legal guidelines below a brand new guise.
Constitutional validity & contents of coverage
The coverage goals at addressing long-standing challenges in agricultural advertising and marketing via a unified nationwide method. Nonetheless, it raises crucial questions on its constitutional foundation and potential implications for state autonomy and farmer welfare. Agriculture and agricultural advertising and marketing are state topics below the Structure (Entries 14 and 28, Checklist II), whereas agricultural analysis is on the Union Checklist (Entry 14, Checklist I). The central authorities’s intervention in state issues via a nationwide framework may very well be seen as an overreach, although it might justify this transfer as crucial for financial integration and enhanced farmer welfare.
The draft coverage proposes a number of initiatives to reform agricultural advertising and marketing. It seeks to empower state agricultural ministers to spearhead advertising and marketing reforms via a devoted committee, very like the GST Council. The emphasis on automation and digitalisation of agricultural buying and selling processes goals to create a seamless and environment friendly system. The rationalisation of charges, licences, and rules is meant to simplify agricultural commerce and scale back prices. The framework envisions the creation of a unified nationwide agricultural market portal, which would supply real-time data and combine market methods throughout the nation. Moreover, market intelligence and worth forecasting mechanisms are proposed to information farmers in making knowledgeable choices. Whereas these measures seem forward-looking, their implementation may disrupt the established methods, notably in states like Punjab and Haryana.
Why farmers are involved
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana, who’ve traditionally relied on sturdy native market methods, have expressed a number of considerations. Many see it because the silent and backdoor resurrection of the three farm legal guidelines that had been taken by them as lifeless and buried. The proposed reforms might dilute state authority over agricultural advertising and marketing, undermining the federal construction. The coverage’s silence on the statutory MSP assure, a central situation for farmers, is seen as a major omission by the kisan organisations. Elevated personal sector involvement raises fears of monopolisation, probably decreasing farmers’ bargaining energy, probably recreating the ambiance when the three contentious farm legal guidelines had been initially enacted. Established mandi methods, that are very important for Punjab and Haryana farmers, may face erosion below a nationwide framework. The distinctive infrastructure wants of Punjab and Haryana might also not align with the proposed nationwide method, resulting in inefficiencies.
The draft coverage additionally neglects to handle worldwide agricultural advertising and marketing. Export duties, bans, and minimal export worth insurance policies imposed by the ministry of commerce usually lead to important losses for Indian farmers, notably when world costs for commodities like milled ‘parmal’ rice are excessive. A complete framework should steadiness home wants with export alternatives to maximise advantages for farmers.
The way in which ahead
To make the coverage inclusive and efficient, the federal government ought to prioritise significant engagement with stakeholders, together with farmer unions, state governments, and specialists. Provisions addressing export-related challenges, comparable to worldwide advertising and marketing and pricing mechanisms, are important to make sure that Indian farmers profit from world commerce alternatives. Investing in public-sector infrastructure for agro-processing, chilly chains, and transportation, notably for perishable items focusing on world markets, may strengthen the agricultural advertising and marketing system. Strengthening farmer producer organisations and cooperatives may improve farmers’ market participation, whereas an built-in coverage method that resolves the MSP situation would deal with a crucial hole. Defending state autonomy whereas fostering nationwide integration via cooperative federalism stays very important.
The draft coverage presents an formidable plan to reform agricultural markets however falls in need of addressing key points comparable to MSP, state autonomy, and worldwide commerce. Its timing, restricted session window, and perceived similarities with the repealed farm legal guidelines have raised important considerations. The Authorities of India should undertake a extra inclusive and balanced method, making certain that the coverage not solely promotes market effectivity but additionally safeguards the pursuits and welfare of India’s farming neighborhood or else its implementation might hit air-pockets, if not roadblocks, even whether it is formally notified.
( The author is a former particular chief secretary of Punjab)