9 facts protesting farmers should examine

Even as the deadlock between protesting farmers and the Centre continued with no consensus being arrived at during their meetings, there is a view emerging among government negotiators that the protests have been stage-managed and farmers have been misled.

Asianet Newsable has accessed a document which the BJP government at the Centre has been using to pacify the farmers' concerns. Here are highlights of what the document says.

Concern 1: MSP is not mentioned in the Farm Bill 
Sources: It is available in the bill. In the Farmers (Empowerment & Protecion) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Act, 2020 - Refer Point no. 5 - There is a menion of Guaranteed Price or any suitable bench mark price i.e., MSP

Concern 2: Corporates will snatch the land from the farmer
Sources: It is impossible and the farmers are protected in this law. Point number 8 in the law states that no farming agreement shall be entered into for the purpose of any transfer, including sale, lease and mortgage of the land or premises of the farmer.

Sources: Why is it that Tamil Nadu which has one-third of the foodgrain production make more profit than Punjab? Who is gobbling all the profits in Punjab?

Sources: Why is there uproar over MSP when the support extended by the NDA government is higher than what was offered under the UPA regime? While MSP offered for paddy was Rs 360 in 2009-10, the NDA government offered up to Rs 1868. Similarly, for wheat, MSP of Rs 1080 was offered in 2009-10 while at present it stands at Rs 1925.

Sources: NDA is purchasing more produce from farmers directly. Wheat purchase under Modi government has seen a 200% rise compared to UPA-II. Modi government has
purchased wheat worth Rs 3 lakh crore between 2014-19.

Sources: The buying of pulses has seen astronomical growth under Modi government when compared to UPA-II. Pulses worth Rs 50,000 crore has been purchased by the Modi government, 7592 times compared to the Rs 650 crore spent by UPA-II.

Sources: Inflation in farmer expenditure has been halved during NDA enure when compared to UPA's. The Consumer Price Index, which examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food, and medical care, grew by 11% during UPA 2 against just 5.5% during NDA.

Sources: FCI was routing all the payments to farmers through middlemen otherwise called as 'Arhtiyas'. They are paid 2.5% commission for every transaction. Just for paddy and wheat, middlemen in Punjab made close to Rs 3,330 crore. This excludes pulses, cereals, oil seeds, cotton, sugarcane and vegetables. The unions are strong and the farmers cannot bypass the middlemen. Already the farmers are paid just 30% of MSP by middlemen.

Sources: Farmers will not be at a loss due to the new farm laws. Soybean farmers in Maharashtra have benefited to get more out of APMC deals. In the last three months, MahaFPC, the umbrella body of farmer producing companies in Maharashtra, estimates that since the laws were enacted in September, FPCs in four districts have made worth Rs 10 crore from trade outside mandis.