Asserting that three new agriculture-related legislations by the Centre are in keeping with the changing times, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand has said that if they are implemented in the right spirit, they will take Indian agriculture to new heights.
In a paper titled ‘New Firm Acts: Understanding the Implication’, Chand said the reforms have generated optimism for India to become a global power in agriculture and a powerhouse for global food supply. “In a nutshell, the three policy reforms undertaken by the central government through the three new laws are in keeping with the changing times and requirements of farmers and farming.
“If they are implemented in the right spirit, they will take Indian agriculture to new heights and usher in the transformation of the rural economy,” he said.
On September 27, President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the three Bills — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020.
Stating that policy reforms in agriculture continue to be a hot topic in public discourse for the past two decades, Chand said, “The ‘business as usual’ approach was yielding only incremental changes, whereas the sector needed transformative ones to address agrarian distress.”