The Samyukt Kisan Morcha which met here on Wednesday rejected the proposed amendments suggested in the controversial farm laws by the government. The Centre on Wednesday morning sent the possible changes in the laws that can be brought about if the farmers are willing to end their agitation.

The meeting of the farmer leaders here unanimously rejected the offer made by the government and decided that the protest will not stop till the government repeals the Acts, said a farmer leader.

At a meeting convened by Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday night, the government suggested that it could send the draft proposals to the protesting farmers for taking a decision. These proposed changes include slapping a cess on private mandis, registration of each contract farming deals with the State government, compulsory registration by private traders operate outside mandis with the State government and allowing farmer to go to civil court to appeal if SDM fails to satisfactorily resolve the disputes. The government also promised to give it in writing that the current minimum support price regime will continue as well as agreed not to go ahead with the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill 2020.

Farmers’ concern

The Centre said as the farmers felt that over time APMC mandis will get weakened and private mandis will them start exploiting farmers, it could look at an amendment to the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020. Under this amendment, all private mandis operating in a state can be made to register with the State government and the same cess or tax in APMC mandis can be made applicable to private mandis as well. Similarly, private traders, who were earlier allowed to operate just on the basis of PAN card or Aadhaar card they have, may now be forced to follow the laws being passed by State assemblies on the basis of local requirements.

The farmers can also be provided the option of approaching civil courts if they are not happy with dispute settlement provided by local SDMs. It also promised to give it writing that the current system of MSP will continue unlike what is feared by farmers even after these Acts have come into force.

Contract farming Act

The Centre also proposed that the contract farming Act can be amended in such a way that till the time the State governments come up with rules to register these contracts, the deals between farmers and processors or agribusiness firms will be sent to SDM office within 30 days of the deals are signed.

It also assured the farmers that there will not be any attempt to amend the current Electricity Act under which farmers in many States get power at subsidised rates.

It also promised to address the concerns of Punjab and Haryana farmers on penalty for stubble burning satisfactorily. The Air Quality Management of NCR and Adjoining Areas Ordinance has slapped a fine of Rs 1 crore and jail term for those who contribute to foul air quality in the national capital region.

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