The farmers were demanding fertilisers in the area as a result of which the trader was selling the fertilisers in black at higher prices. Taking cognizance of the matter, police conducted a raid at the godown and seized the fertilisers, SDM Aditya Jain said.

New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Supreme Court-appointed panel was not in favour of total repeal of the three controversial farm laws and instead had suggested leaving procurement of crops at a specified price to the states and scrapping of Essential Commodities Act one of the three members of the panel said on Monday while releasing the committees report Pune-based farmer leader Anil Ghanwat said he had on three occasions written to the Supreme Court for releasing the report of the committee but in the absence of a response he was releasing it on his own According to him the committee has said that a repeal or a long suspension of these laws would be unfair to the silent majority who support the farm laws The panel favoured giving some flexibility in implementation and designs of the laws The bilateral interactions of the committee with the stakeholders demonstrated that only 133 per cent of the stakeholders were not in favour of the three laws Around 857 percent of the farmer organisations representing more than 33 crore farmers supported the laws The other two members -- economist Ashok Gulati and agri-economist Pramod Kumar Joshi -- were not present at a hurriedly called press conference here The panel had submitted its recommendations on the three farm laws which among other things allowed farmers to sell agri produce to private entities outside the government mandis on March 19 2021 The three farm laws were repealed by the Modi government in November last year ahead of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab Addressing the press conference Ghanwat said the committee had also suggested many changes in the laws including giving freedom to states to make Minimum Support Price MSP system legal The panel had also suggested that the open-ended procurement policy should be discontinued and a model contract agreement should be formulated The report has no relevance now as the laws have been repealed but it would help in making policies for the agriculture sector in future said Ghanwat who is the President of Swatantra Bharat Party Besides feedback from those who made personal depositions the panel also received comments on the three laws through an online portal where around two-thirds of the respondents favoured the legislations The feedback received through e-mails also showed that a majority support the laws Ghanwat said 40 unions which had organised agitations against the laws under the banner of Samyukt Kisan Morcha SKM did not make any submission despite repeated requests On November 19 2021 Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws saying the government could not convince protesting farmers about the benefits of reforms The repealing of the three farm legislations -- Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and The Essential Commodities Amendment Act -- was one of the key demands of around 40 farmer unions protesting against these reforms at Delhi borders The protest started at the fag-end of November 2020 and ended after Parliament repealed the three laws The legislations had come into force in June 2020 through an ordinance and later they were cleared by Parliament in September 2020 Ultimately the laws were repealed in November 2021 although the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the legislations as well as ordered setting up of the panel in January 2021On the farmer unions demand to legalise the MSP system the panel said in its report that the demand was not based on sound logic and was infeasible to implement Any product that is produced needs to be traded at a viable price MSP is an indicative floor price to protect the farmers against any undue fall in prices especially at the time of harvest The government does not have the financial coffers to buy whatever is produced of all 23 commodities that are currently under the cover of MSP the report said The MSP and procurement support policy as was designed for cereals during the Green Revolution time needs to be revisited given that huge surpluses of wheat and rice have emerged For wheat and rice there has to be a cap on procurement which is commensurate to the needs of the Public Distribution System PDS The open-ended procurement policy needs to be discontinued as it is distorting the composition of agricultural output in certain states with its adjunct environmental consequences the report said The panel gave few options on how to proceed further looking at least ten years ahead One of the options that the committee deliberated upon is to allocate the current expenditure by the central government on procurement storage and PDS of wheat and rice across states based on an objective formula giving due weightage to production procurement and poverty The states should be given the freedom to devise their own approaches to support farmers and protect poor consumers in their respective states the report said The committee recommended that procurement of crops at a declared MSP can be the prerogative of the states as per their specific agricultural policy priorities The states can provide for a legal backing for such procurements at their own costs - as the recent Punjab Amendment Act does Kerala as an example has recently announced MSP for fruits and vegetables Some states also announce bonus on the MSP announced by the Centre it said Another option suggested by the panel was to give freedom of choice to beneficiaries of PDS to choose cash transfers equivalent to MSP 25 per cent for every kg of grain entitlement or get it in kind wheat or rice A concrete road map for gradual diversification from paddy to more sustainable high-value crops especially in Punjab-Haryana belt needs to be formulated the panel said Ghanwat said he would soon come out with a discussion paper on agricultural policy and would also organise a rally in Delhi of more than one lakh farmers in October in the national capital to push agri reforms PTI MJH ANZ RAM RAM

New Delhi Feb 28 PTI All India average retail price of green gram moong dal declined by Rs 4 to 10236 per kg on Monday from over the year-ago period according to the Consumer Affairs Ministry Retail moong dal prices stood at Rs 10647 per kg on February 28 last year it said in a statement The fall in prices has come following advisories issued in May 2021 to monitor prices and disclosure of pulses stock held by millers importers and traders under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 the ministry stated The government had also allowed free import of tur urad and moong between May and October 2021 The free import later was extended till March 2022 for tur and urad The import policy measures have resulted in a substantial increase in import of tur urad and moong as compared to the corresponding period for the past two years the ministry added PTI LUX MR MR

New Delhi Dec 24 PTI The Centre on Friday imposed stock holding limits on soyameal which is used as a raw material in the poultry feed industry till June 2022 to curb hoarding as well as check price rise The limits will be in place till June 30 2022 and an order in this regard was issued with effect from December 23 an official statement said Besides the government has notified an order under the Essential Commodities Act to declare soyameal as an essential commodity up to June 30 2022 by amending the Schedule of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 Soyameal processors millers and plant owners can hold a maximum stock of 90 days production and they are required to declare the storage location Government-registered trading companies traders and private chaupals can hold a maximum stock of 160 tonne with a defined and declared storage location If stocks held by legal entities are higher than the prescribed limits then they have to declare the same on the food ministrys portal httpevegoilsnicinsoyamealstocklogin and bring it to the prescribed stock limits within 30 days of the issue of the notification It should be ensured that soyameal stock is regularly declared and updated on the portal the statement said The data on the portal will be regularly monitored and any follow-up action will be taken by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying The above measures are expected to stop any unfair practices like hoarding black marketing etc in the market having the potential to hike the prices of soyameal the statement said The stock limits have been set in consultation with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying The notification of soyameal as an essential commodity would empower the Union government and all StatesUTs to regulate production and distribution of soyameal The move will help to curb unfair market practices and enhance the availability of the commodity for consumers like poultry farm and cattle feed manufacturers the statement said PTI LUX RAM

New Delhi Dec 24 PTI The Centre on Friday imposed stock holding limits on soyameal which is used as a raw material in the poultry feed industry till June 2022 to curb hoarding as well as check rise in domestic prices The limits will be in place till June 30 2022 an official statement said Besides the government has notified an order under the Essential Commodities Act to declare soyameal as an essential commodity up to June 30 2022 by amending the Schedule of the Essential Commodities Act 1955 Soyameal processors millers and plant owners can hold a maximum stock of 90 days production and they are required to declare the storage location Government-registered trading companies traders and private chaupals can hold a maximum stock of 160 tonne with a defined and declared storage location PTI LUX RAM

New Delhi [India], December 1 (ANI): The Centre on Wednesday issued a gazette notification to repeal the three farm laws and the Act will now be called Farm Laws Repeal Act, 2021.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today skipped an all-party meeting called by his government, a day before the start of the Winter Session of Parliament. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal were present from the government side. “We were expecting that the Prime Minister will attend the meeting and will share something with us. We wanted to ask more about the farm laws as there are some apprehensions that these three farm laws may again come in some other form,” said Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi: The cancellation of farm laws will be one of the prime talking points at the all-party meeting today that is likely to be helmed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a day before the beginning of the Winter Session of Parliament. The meeting – which will also likely see price rise issue and the farmers’ demand on legal guarantee on Minimum Support Prices being raised – is set to begin at 11 am.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today skipped an all-party meeting called by his government, a day before the start of the Winter Session of Parliament. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal were present from the government side. “We were expecting that the Prime Minister will attend the meeting and will share something with us. We wanted to ask more about the farm laws as there are some apprehensions that these three farm laws may again come in some other form,” said Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi [India], November 21 (ANI): Union Cabinet is likely to take up the withdrawal of the three Farm Laws for approval on November 24, the government sources said on Sunday.