 bill no 67 of  2007 the national commission for farmers bill, 2007 byshri ram kripal yadav, mp a billto provide for the setting up of a national commission for farmers for their welfare and overall development and for matters connected therewithbe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—1 (1)   this act may be called the national commission for farmers act, 2007(2)  it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3) it shall come into force at oncedefinitions2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(i) "commission" means the national commission for farmers set up under section 3;(ii) "farmer" means any person who cultivates land or causes to be cultivatedthereon any agricultural or horticultural product; and(iii) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 (1) the central government shall, by notification in the official gazette, set up a commission to be known as the national commission for farmersnational commission for farmers(2) the commission shall consist of:5(i) a chairman having special knowledge in the field of agriculture, to be appointed by the central government; and(ii) such number of other members having such qualification as may be prescribed (3) the conditions of service, salaries and allowances of chairman and other members of the commission shall be such as may be prescribed104 the central government shall make available such number of officers and staff including experts to the commission as may be required for its functioningcentral government to provide officers and staff for the commission5 the commission shall perform the following functions:—functions of the commission(i) formulate a national policy for the overall development of farmers in the country;15(ii) formulate schemes and programmes for the welfare of farmers particularly those living in drought prone areas and other areas prone to natural calamities;(iii) formulation and implementation of schemes for the welfare of farmers; and (iv) such other functions as may be assigned to it by the central governmentfarmers development fund206 (1) the central government shall set up a fund to be known as the farmers development fund to implement the provisions of this act(2) the central government and state governments shall contribute to the fund in such ratio as may be prescribedpower to make rules7 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the act statement of objects and reasonsagriculture is the backbone of indian economy, as it is a major contributor to the gross domestic product (gdp) of our country and seventy percent of our population is dependent on this sector for its livelihood agriculture is also important as it ensures food security and is a major source of raw materials for the industrial sector however, in the recent years this vital sector of our economy has remained neglected farmers have borne the brunt of this neglect and it has resulted in a spate of suicides by farmers across the country the major reason of this being indebtedness, crop failure, poor quality of seeds, spurious pesticides, plant diseases and natural calamities like floods, drought, hailstorms, frosts, etc on the other hand even if there is a bumper crop, farmers fail to get remunerative price on account of shortcomings of and irregularities committed by state procurement agencies there are also several infrastructural constraints in storage, distribution and marketing of agricultural produce at present there is no government policy comprehensively addressing the hardships faced by the farmers although both the central and state governments spend huge sums every year to compensate farmers by way of relief, such measures have remained inadequate, primarily due to lack of coordinated efforts on part of the states and union government consequently, the plight of farmers in the country has remained largely unaddressed thus, there is need to provide due security and protection to farmers the bill seeks to establish a national commission for farmers while the commission is to function in general for the protection, benefit and welfare of the farmers, it shall also formulate schemes for the benefit and welfare of the farmers this measure would have considerable and positive impact on the economic progress of the country in general and the agricultural sector in particularhence this billnew delhi;ram kripal yadavaugust 3, 2007 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the setting up of a national commission for farmers clause 4 provides that the central government shall make available necessary officers and staff for the efficient functioning of the commission clause 6 provides for the creation of a farmers development fund the bill, therefore, if enacted, is likely to involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that an annual recurring expenditure of about rupees two hundred crore will be involveda non-recurring expenditure of about rupees one hundred crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 7 of the bill empowers the central government to frame rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as the rules will relate to matters of detail only, the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto provide for the setting up of a national commission for farmers for their welfare and overall development and for matters connected therewith————(shri  ram kripal yadav, mp)mgipmrnd—3211ls(s-3)—20082007