New Delhi: The Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations are once again in the spotlight amid the agitation by farmers across the country against the three controversial farm laws passed by the Narendra Modi government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar recently claimed once again that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had not implemented the recommendations of the National Farmers Commission, known as the Swaminathan Commission, for eight years. after which his party finally implemented them.
While addressing a conference in Madhya Pradesh on December 18, Modi, referring to the farmers’ movement, said: “Those who have started this movement on behalf of farmers, the Swaminathan Commission report is the greatest proof of how ruthless it could be these people. These people (Congress) followed the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report for eight long years. “
“Farmers used to agitate before too, but it didn’t move these people. They made sure their government didn’t have to spend a lot on farmers, so they kept the report secret, ”Modi added. “This government is dedicated to farmers and considers farmers as Annadata. The recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report were implemented by this government, granting a minimum support price (MSP) of one and a half times the cost to farmers. “
However, these claims made by the prime minister do not measure up to the facts recorded by the ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare. The ministry had planned to implement 201 of the Swaminathan Commission’s total recommendations.
However, official documents obtained by The wire show that of the 200 recommendations the government has claimed to implement, only 25 have been implemented during the Modi government. The remaining 175 recommendations were implemented during the previous AUP regime.
These claims made by the central government are quite controversial. The wire It will soon publish a series of detailed reports that will assess whether these recommendations have been implemented in theory or in practice.
Swaminathan Commission and later
The National Farmers Commission was formed on November 18, 2004, under the leadership of the eminent agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. The Commission presented its fifth and final report to the government on October 4, 2006. The report aims to make agriculture a source of income and employment, as well as generating a comprehensive and sustainable change in agricultural practices.
The report has also formulated the National Farmers Policy incorporating key recommendations from the Commission. Up to 201 action points have been suggested. An inter-ministerial committee (IMC) has been formed to oversee its implementation.
Farmers raise slogans during a protest in support of the national strike, called by farmers’ unions to push for the repeal of the Center’s agricultural laws, in Amritsar, Tuesday, December 8, 2020. Photo: PTI
According to the documents, the IMC has held a total of eight meetings so far, of which only three were held during the Modi government term.
Its first meeting was held on October 14, 2009, in which the outline for the implementation of 201 recommendations was proposed. The second meeting of the IMC was held on June 3, 2010. By then, 42 recommendations had been implemented while 159 were pending.
The third meeting of the committee was held in June 2012 and up to then 152 recommendations had been implemented while 49 were pending.
Their fourth and fifth meetings were held in September 2013 and January 2014, respectively. According to the records, 25 more recommendations were implemented during this period.
When the Modi government came to power in 2014, 26 out of 201 action items were due to be implemented, of which 25 have been implemented so far, with one pending.
In August 2015, the sixth meeting of the IMC was held. By then, 17 more recommendations were considered implemented while nine were pending. The last meeting was held on April 8, 2019.
These figures also raise questions about the claims of the union’s agriculture minister. In an interview with Dainik bhaskarTomar had claimed that of the 201 recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee, 200 had been implemented under Modi’s leadership.
However, it is clear from the data presented above that, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, only 25 recommendations have been implemented during the Modi government term.
He also stated that the recently enacted laws are based on the recommendations of the National Farmers Commission.
However, in the context of the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020, which allows the purchase and sale of agricultural products outside the APMC (Agricultural Products Marketing Committee), the Swaminathan Commission recommended in your report that It is an urgent need to bring about changes in the APMC system.
But nowhere in the report is it indicated that the central government can formulate a law in this regard. Instead, the Commission recommended that states make changes to their respective APMC laws.
Of these 201 recommendations, only one related to the APMC, regarding the tax applied in the mandis, has been included.
The Commission had asked that it be applied as a “service fee” rather than as a “mandatory tax” so that regardless of the facility used, you pay the same tax or fee.
To gain public support for the new law, BJP leaders, including the prime minister and the union agriculture minister, have branded it an illicit tax and insisting that no tax is being imposed in the so-called new system.
Farmers during their Delhi Chalo protest march against the new agricultural laws, on the Ghazipur border in New Delhi on Saturday 26 December 2020. Photo: PTI
However, the documents obtained by The wire They reveal that the Union’s Ministry of Finance has justified it by saying that the amount collected in the mandis is not a tax since the APMC in question provide services to the people in exchange for them. The ministry proposed imposing a uniform goods and services tax (GST) across the country. The agriculture ministry has also supported him.
Another demand from farmers in the ongoing agricultural movement has been that the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations be fully implemented, especially the recommendation on the one-and-a-half-cost MSP. Although the government claims that it has implemented this provision, the figures raise serious doubts about its implementation.
In addition, the Commission gave detailed recommendations in its report on various aspects of agriculture, such as irrigation, land reforms, agricultural productivity, credit and insurance, food security, farmer suicide prevention, agricultural market, and employment in agriculture.
Farmers have been protesting against three agricultural ordinances passed by the central government: the Agricultural Trade and Trade in Agricultural Products (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, the Farmers Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee, and the Agricultural Services Act 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020.
Farmers fear that with these laws the government is destroying the established system of providing MSP and once it is implemented, farmers will be at the mercy of traders.
The Modi government, on the other hand, has repeatedly denied these allegations and has instead been describing the new laws as “historic agricultural reforms.” He has been claiming that they have been creating an alternative system for the sale of agricultural products.
(Translated from Hindi by Naushin Rehman)
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