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This story is from July 18, 2019

CMs panel mulls over linking of central grants to states with agri reforms

CMs panel mulls over linking of central grants to states with agri reforms
NEW DELHI: A high-powered committee for transformation of Indian agriculture on Thursday discussed the possibility of linking central grants and fund allocations made by the Finance Commission to states with agriculture reforms undertaken by them and expressed strong need to bring private investment in farm sector.
The Committee, comprising of seven chief ministers, in its first meeting also decided to release a time-bound road map for implementation of all such reforms and asked the states to submit their views on it by August 7.

“Grants of the central government and fund allocation of the Finance Commission should be linked with the agriculture reforms undertaken in states,” said Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis after the first meeting of the Committee which was constituted early this month to suggest measures within two months to transform country’s farm sector.
Pitching for simultaneous reforms in all states, Fadnavis, who is the convener of the nine-member committee, said the country would not witness major transformation in the agriculture sector unless all states come on board.
Among various issues in the context of suggestions made by an earlier inter-ministerial committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) and two central model draft Acts, the group of chief ministers also discussed whether the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955 can be scrapped for food sector as this law is considered a big deterrent for private investment in agriculture sector.
“The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath was in the favour of scrapping the ECA, 1955,” said Fadnavis about what transpired in the meeting which held here at Niti Aayog. Nath joined the meeting via video conferencing while
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath sent his views in writing.
Using technology as a growth medium, upgrading agriculture technologies, stress on more exports, increasing productivity, stress on micro irrigation, access of bank credit to farmers, group farming and doubling farmers income were among the key points discussed in the meeting.
“More use of technology, digitisation of entire process from sowing to marketing, more use of drones and satellites, more focus on group farming and taking banks and financial institutions on board to increase investment credit are needs of the hour,” said Fadnavis.
Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Niti Aayog member Ramesh Chand and chief ministers of Haryana (M L Khattar), Gujarat (Vijay Rupani) and Arunachal Pradesh (Pema Khandu) were the other committee members who attended the meeting. The next meeting is likely to be held on August 16.
The one of terms of reference (ToR) of the committee include suggestions on modalities for adoption and time-bound implementation of two key model Acts - one on agriculture market reforms (APMC Acts) and the other on contract farming - by the states. The Centre had shared these two draft model Acts with the states during the first term of the Modi government.
Though Uttar Pradesh had amended its APMC Act in conformity with the Centre’s model draft law, most of the states, barring Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh, have not moved much in the direction of reforms to free farmers from clutches of middlemen.
Examining various provisions of ECA, 1955; suggesting mechanism for linking of market reforms with e-NAM, GRAM and other relevant centrally sponsored schemes; and recommending policy measures to boost agricultural export, raise growth in food processing and attract investments in modern market infrastructure, value chains and logistics are other key points of the ToR.
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About the Author
Vishwa Mohan

Vishwa Mohan is Senior Editor at The Times of India. He writes on environment, climate change, agriculture, water resources and clean energy, tracking policy issues and climate diplomacy. He has been covering Parliament since 2003 to see how politics shaped up domestic policy and India’s position at global platform. Before switching over to explore sustainable development issues, Vishwa had covered internal security and investigative agencies for more than a decade.

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