 bill no 168 of  2017 the  protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights (amendment) bill,  2017 by shri dushyant chautala, mp a billto amend the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights act, 2001be  it enacted by the parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights(amendment) act, 2017amendment of section 392 in section 39 of the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights act, 2001, for sub-section (2), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:—5 10 15"(2) where any propagating material of a variety registered under this act has been sold to a farmer or a group of farmers or any organisation of farmers, the breeder of such variety shall disclose to the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be, the expected performance under given conditions, and if such propagating material fails to provide such performance under such given conditions, the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be, may claim compensation in the prescribed manner before the authority and the authority, after giving notice to the breeder of the variety and after providing him an opportunity to discharge the complete onus in respect of such claim and after hearing the parties, shall, not more than six months from the date of filing such claim, direct the breeder of the variety to pay such compensation as it deems fit but not less than twice the amount of damage which the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be, has suffered20(3) notwithstanding anything contained in this section, the authority shall, on receipt of claim application for compensation under sub-section (2), from any farmer or a group of farmers or any organisation of farmers, as the case may be, award such interim compensation, as it deems fit, for necessary subsistence for the livelihood of a farmer or a group of farmers or any organisation of farmers, as the case may be" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe protection of plant variety and farmers' rights act, 2001 (popularly known as ppvfr act) aims to establish an effective system for protection and development of new plant varieties, protect farmers' rights by facilitating the growth of the seed industry and the availability of the high quality seed and planting material to the farmersdespite the best intentions of this legislation, the fact is that the farmers productivity and their future is severely compromised by the non-availability of the quality seeds and further sale of low quality seeds to them by misrepresentationthe state of affair further depletes when the farmers approach the authority established under the act for claiming compensation since they do not have sufficient material to discharge the onus on their claim moreover, no time-frame has been prescribed for the authority to decide the claim sometimes, it may take several years for the decision to come also, no interim measures are provided under the actthe authority under the act has been given more discretion to decide upon the quantum of the claim thus, it is imperative that necessary amendments be brought in to make a time-bound redressal mechanism for the adjudication of claims being filed by farmers or organisation of farmers under this act along with a provision of interim compensation to be awarded to the farmers also, the company being a dominant party should be given the burden to discharge the onus on the claims and not the otherwisehence this billnew delhi;dushyant chautalajuly 7, 2017 annexure extract from the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights act, 2001 (53 of 2001)    39 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in this act,—farmers' rights    (2) where any propagating material of a variety registered under this act has been sold to a farmer or a group of farmers or any organisation of farmers, the breeder of such variety shall disclose to the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be, the expected performance under given conditions, and if such propagating material fails to provide such performance under such given conditions, the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be, may claim compensation in the prescribed manner before the authority and the authority, after giving notice to the breeder of the variety and after providing him an opportunity to file opposition in the prescribed manner and after hearing the parties, may direct the breeder of the variety to pay such compensation as it deems fit, to the farmer or the group of farmers or the organisation of farmers, as the case may be    ———— a billto amend the protection of plant varieties and farmers' rights act, 2001————(shri dushyant chautala, mp)gmgipmrnd—2107ls(s3)—13-10-2017