After 65 years, the storage ceiling has been removed for potato, onion, tomato, oilseeds, and dals. Earlier this week, on September 22, the Essential Commodities Act 2020 (Amendment Bill) 2020 was passed in the Rajya Sabha.
This means that no one will be imprisoned for storing these items in excess. Earlier, to ensure that the public continued to get these goods at a fair price, the government placed them in the list of essential commodities. Through the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the government had been controlling the sale, production and supply of these commodities, but now certain commodities have been released from the Act’s purview. This means that the government will not interfere with their market rates.
The list of essential commodities includes items ranging from petrol and diesel to wheat, rice, jaggery, sugar, medicine, chemicals and fertilisers. The government reviews this list from time to time and regulates the limit of storage and supply of items. If someone stores them beyond prescribed limits, they are liable to be penalised or prosecuted, and even undergo a jail sentence.
During the debate on the bill in the Rajya Sabha, Members of Parliament (MP) put forth their opinions. Many opposition MPs questioned the storage limit while those supporting the government hailed it as beneficial for both the farmer and consumer.
Janata Dal (United) MP from Bihar Ram Chandra Prasad Singh was in support of the bill. “In rural areas, tomatoes are purchased from a farmer for as less as two rupees a kilogramme and sold at forty rupees a kilogramme in Delhi. Thirty-eight rupees get lost in transit because we do not have cold chains. The older Essential Commodities Act is a hindrance and should be amended,” he said.
“The Essential Commodities Act came into force when our country was facing widespread starvation and we depended on grains’ supply from outside. After the agricultural revolution, the production of cereals, fruit and vegetables has increased considerably and we are now in a position to even export these items,” he explained. The MP said the old Act discouraged private investment in supply chains, large cold storage and silage. “The new rule will encourage private investment, improve the supply chain of fruits, flowers and vegetables, and curb spoilage,” he added.
In the 1960s, after two years of drought, India received surplus wheat from the United States of America, under the US Public Law 480, and it paid in rupees. Later, this ran into a fair bit of trouble.
Biju Janata Dal MP from Odisha Amar Patnaik raised questions about stock limit and the parity in price sought from the consumer and paid to the farmers.
