By IANS
Bangalore : Karnataka's move to allow contract farming and the entry of major players into agricultural produce trading is facing stiff resistance from trade bodies and farmers associations.
"We are opposed to contract farming and we do not want private market yards for trading in agricultural produce," said Ramesh Chandra Lahoti of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, affiliated to the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
The Karnataka government's move to amend the Agriculture Produce Marketing Cooperative (APMC) Act "is nothing but a step that will help only multinational companies (MNCs) and not farmers or consumers", Lahoti told IANS.
FKCCI has been spearheading the opposition to the government plan and Thursday organised a state-wide shutdown of APMC yards as a protest.
On Wednesday, the state assembly passed a bill to amend the APMC Act to allow contract farming and entry of big players into the agro trade. The bill has to pass through the legislative council (upper house) and receive the assent of the governor before it becomes an act.
"Why is the government in a hurry to pass the bill when we had demanded that it be referred to a joint select committee of the two houses of the legislature for detailed consideration of its implications on the existing players in the trade and the farmers?" Lahoti asked.
"MNCs with huge financial clout will enter the sector if the amendment is passed and this will spell doom for lakhs of people depending on the present APMC system," he asserted.
On the government's contention that allowing contract farming and major players to enter the market would benefit farmers, he said: "This measure will not do that.
"It is being done to help MNCs in the name of farmers," said Lahoti, chairman of the FKCCI committee on internal trade and APMC.
The central government came out with a model APMC act in 2003 and has been urging the states to bring their acts in line with it. All the states, which have the APMC Act, were prodded to complete the process by the end of 2006.
Several states like Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh have amended the act but have not notified it, which means they cannot be implemented.
The previous Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in Karnataka headed by N. Dharam Singh had toyed with the idea of amending the act but backtracked following opposition from the existing players and farmers.
The present Janata Dal (Secular)-Bharatiya Janata Party government, which took office in February 2006, justified its move saying it was being pushed by the central government.
"We were ready to refer the amendment bill to a joint select committee (as demanded by the Congress) but Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has urged Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to have it passed at the earliest," Home and Law Minister M.P. Prakash told the assembly last week.
"Why should the state act under the central government's compulsion?" Lahoti asked.
At present activities in the APMC are monitored by the government. "If private markets are allowed, who will monitor their activities and who will safeguard farmers' interests?
"Any newcomer can come and operate in the existing market yards. For the sake of a few, the government is putting at risk the livelihood of lakhs and lakhs of traders," Lahoti alleged.