BENGALURU: On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a repeal of the three farm laws, agriculture experts and farmer leaders in Karnataka demanded that the State Government repeal amendments to the APMC Act and Karnataka Land Reforms Act.To facilitate the implementation of the Central Act, the Karnataka Government amended the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act.
“Karnataka was one step ahead. It amended the APMC Act and even implemented it. It has to repeal the amendments,” agri expert and former chairman of Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission Dr TN Prakash Kammaradi told TNIE.
By amending the Act, APMC jurisdiction was restricted to only its physical boundary. They have no control outside the premises as private firms can directly procure agricultural produce from farmers. Farmers organisations, as well as Opposition parties, opposed the move stating it was against the original objective of the Act to keep middlemen away and ensure there is no exploitation of farmers.According to Kammaradi’s assessment, transactions at the APMCs have come down by 60-80%. “Amendments to the APMC Act and Land Reforms Act in the state have to be repealed,” he added.
Samyukta Horata, Karnataka, a coalition of farmers, Dalits and labour organisations, that is spearheading the agitation in the state also urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to repeal amendments to the Acts failing which they will intensify the agitation. “After farmers protested for a year, the PM realised the mistake and announced the decision to repeal the farm laws. However, the BJP government in the state is speedily implementing the amendments to the APMC Act and Land Reforms Act,” a farmer leader said. The forum has called for a meeting on Saturday to discuss details about its protest on November 26.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president Kodihalli Chandrashekar said the BJP government in the state had amended the APMC Act and implemented it. “Now that the Centre has decided to repeal the three farm laws, the state should withdraw the amendments to the APMC Act and Karnataka Land Reforms Act. The agitation will not end now,” he declared.