The Karnataka Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, July 5. This bill aims to repeal the amendments previously enacted by the BJP government, which granted freedom to the market and reduced the control of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs). The bill claims that the previous BJP government's amendments, allowing trade outside APMC yards, did not assist farmers in obtaining fair prices for their produce or improving their economic conditions.
The state government also insists that the farmers who sell their produce outside the APMC yards are vulnerable to exploitation by traders due to lack of regulatory oversight. Besides the absence of trading at APMC yards has adversely affected the government's revenue from various tax sources.
The Bill, presented by Minister for Agricultural Marketing Shivananda Patil, emphasizes that farmers benefit from obtaining competitive and fair prices for their produce when it is sold through the Unified Market Platform in APMCs. However, since there was no online system in place for trade taking place outside the market yards, farmers were unable to receive fair and competitive prices for their produce.
The Bill also said that unlike in the market yards, there is no mechanism for resolving disputes that arise when farmers engage in trade outside those yards. The Bill further highlights that approximately one lakh people who work in the market yards would face job insecurity and livelihood challenges if the produce is sold outside the market yards.
The APMC amendment was among the three contentious farm laws introduced by the Modi government in 2020. It faced strong opposition in the National Capital Region (NCR) from farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, which ultimately led to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s withdrawing the act within a year. Subsequently, the Karnataka government, led by the BJP from 2019 to 2023, implemented the same amendment, following instructions from the Union government.