New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Anubhav Mohanty Thursday urged the Centre to refer the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020 and Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020 to the standing committee.
Speaking on the Bill in Lok Sabha, the Kendrapara MP said that the Bills lack clarity and there is a need to send it to standing committee for scrutiny. He said the Bills were brought in haste.
He also said that farmers are paying fees even when they do not use the services of Agricultural Produce & Livestock Market Committee (APMC). The infrastructure at APMCs is poor, he added.
Mohanty said that farmers will need more capital, information on price fluctuation, better access to credit facilities, storage facilities in order to get benefit from the Bills. The proposed laws will have the impact of gradually abolishing APMCs. Abolition of APMC in Bihar has adversely affected the farmers’ interests, the BJD MP added.
Significantly, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Bills are aimed at making farming profitable.
The minister also clarified that these Bills would not have any impact on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism which will continue.
