National Webinar on ‘Farm Acts 2020: A Review’

The Department of Economics & Banking organised a National Webinar titled “Farm Acts 2020: A Review” on 24^th October 2020 from 12:00 to 1:15 pm via Google meet. The Resource Person for the session was Dr. P. Anbalagan, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Presidency College, Chennai.

The webinar started with the welcome address by Professor and Principal Dr. Prita D. Mallya followed by the introduction of the Resource Person by Ms. Farah Mendonsca, Assistant Professor in Economics and Banking.

Dr. P. Anbalagan began his presentation with a brief review of the current agricultural status in India. He then spoke about the major provisions of the three contentious Farm Laws, viz. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

He also spoke on farmers’ views on the Laws, the role of Minimum Support Price, the importance of procurement of food grains and analysed the State-wise procurement. He expressed his opinion about the role of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee. The speaker stressed on the role that Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan can play in uplifting the farmer community.

He further gave an elaborate explanation on the different reasons as to why States are fearful about the Farm Laws. Dr. P. Anbalagan also highlighted the traders’ problems and the importance of Contract farming.

The last part of his presentation consisted of the analysis of The Farm Act 2020. He concluded saying 100% FDI will create an opportunity to export, thereby leading to more competition, better prices, improvement in infrastructure and farmers’ ability to choose the mode of selling agricultural produce.

Ms. Lizette D’Costa Assistant Professor in Economics and Banking chaired the question answer session. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr. Lira M. Gama HOD of Economics and Banking. The webinar was compered by Mr. Shrikant Madar, Assistant Professor in Economics and Banking.