 bill no  20  of  2007 the  agricultural produce (remunerative prices) bill, 2007 byprof mahadeorao shiwankar, mpa billto provide for payment of remunerative prices fixed on the basis of cost of production of  the agricultural produce to the farmers, compulsory purchase of the producethrough governmental agencies and compulsory market intervention by suchgovernmental agencies in cases of bumper crops and for the establishment of an autonomous board for the purposes and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the fifty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title, extent and commencement1  (1)  this  act   may  be  called  the  agricultural  produce  (remunerative  prices)act, 2007(2) it extends to the whole of india5definitions(3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appoint2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—10(a) "agricultural produce" include paddy, wheat, pulses, bajra, jowar, millet,madwa, maize, soyabean, sugarcane, cotton, oilseeds, jute, spices or horticultural produce, which is used for human consumption or for medicinal purposes;(b) "appropriate government" means in the case of a state, the government of that state and in all other cases, the central government;(c) "board" means the national agricultural produce remunerative prices fixation board established under section 3; and5(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act3 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, but not later than six months of the commencement of this act, by notification in the official gazette, establish a board to be known as the national agricultural produce remunerative prices fixation board10(2) the board shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall, by the said name,  sue and be suedestablishment of the national agricultural produce remunerative prices fixation board(3) the board shall consist of,—15(a) a  chairperson and a deputy chairperson with such qualifications as may be prescribed, in the field of agriculture or with agriculture background, to be appointed by the central government;(b) nine members to be appointed by the central government in consultation with state governments, by rotation  in alphabetical order, to represent the government of the states;(c) one member each to represent the union ministries of agriculture and chemicals and fertilizers to be appointed by the central government;20(d) one member to represent the indian council of agricultural research;(e) such number of representatives of farmers growing such crops as may be prescribed; and(f) three members of parliament of whom two shall be from lok sabha and one from rajya sabha, to be nominated by the presiding officers of the respective houses25(4) the term of office of the chairperson, deputy chairperson, members of the board and the manner of filling vacancies and the procedure to be followed in the discharge of their functions shall be such as may be prescribed(5) the headquarter of the board shall be at new delhi30(6) the board shall have a secretariat with such number of officers and staff and with such terms and conditions of service as may be prescribedfunctions of the board4 (1) the board shall discharge the following functions, namely:—(a)  fix and declare remunerative prices on the basis of cost of production of agricultural produce before every sowing season:provided that different prices may be fixed for different zones of the country;35(b) while fixing the remunerative prices of the agricultural produce, the board shall take into account the following factors, namely:—(i) cost incurred by the farmers in sowing, growing and harvesting of aparticular agricultural produce;(ii) cost incurred on seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides;40(iii) cost incurred on labour; (iv) expenditure incurred on payment of premium for crop insurance, taxeson land, irrigation cost or any other cess, if applicable;(v) maintenance cost of the fields; (vi) cost incurred on transportation of agricultural produce to the market;45(vii) climatic conditions and occurrence of natural calamity; and (viii) other expenditure such as expenditure incurred on electricity orpumpset or any such other item(c) it shall be the duty of the board to ensure that the farmers get remunerative prices based on the cost of production of their produce5(2) the board shall, in order to avoid duplication of its work, perform its functions in close liaison with central and state agencies, institutions and authorities, which are responsible for procurement, supply, distribution, trade and such other activities in relation to the agricultural produce10(3) the board shall give wide publicity to the remunerative prices fixed by it andupdate worldwide market prices of the agricultural produce through electronic and  print media5  notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,—application of the provisions of the act15(a) the central and state government agencies shall purchase agriculturalproduce from the farmers at the prices fixed by the board in case the farmers fail to sell their produce in the open market;20(b) the appropriate government shall invoke market intervention compulsorilywhenever there is bumper crop of any agricultural produce for which the board has not fixed remunerative prices and purchase the agricultural produce offered for sale through the governmental agencies in such manner as may be prescribed; and(c) the appropriate government shall keep a watch on the activities of tradersand middlemen during the immediate post harvest period to ensure that the prices of agricultural produce do not fall as a result of speculation and take such measures as it may deem necessary to protect the interests of the farmers25act to have overriding effect6 the provisions of this act and the rules made thereunder shall have effectnotwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force, but save as aforesaid, the provisions of this act shall be in addition to and not in derogation of any other law for the time being applicable to the farmers and their produce30power to remove difficulties7 if any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this act, the centralgovernment may make such order or give such direction, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as may appear to it to be necessary or expedient for the removal of the difficulty8 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by law by parliamentin this behalf, provide adequate funds for the purposes of this actcentral government to provide funds9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules forcarrying out the purposes of this act35power to make rules statement  of  objects  and  reasonsindia lives in villages because nearly seventy per cent of our population lives in villages majority of them are farmers or agriculture labourers who grow crops for the entire nation and have made the country self sufficient in foodgrains but unfortunately even after more than five decades of country's independence, the lot of farmers has not improved they have to depend upon the vagaries of monsoon and do not get remunerative price for the crops they grow it has been observed that in the immediate post harvest period, prices of agricultural produce nosedive due to the manipulation of the unholy nexus of unscrupulous traders, middlemen and others in the trade the farmers are, therefore, forced to sell their produce at throwaway prices which later on is sold at a premium to the consumers one small committee in the union agriculture ministry fixes the minimum support price of a few agricultural produces but it has been observed that generally the minimum support price is not remunerative and remains below the expectations of the farmers more so, this minimum support price has no legal backing hence it is felt that if an autonomous board is established to fix the remunerative prices with certain guidelines, this problem of the farmers can be solved to a great extent because assured prices of the commodities or agricultural produce will remove the uncertainty caused by the glut in the market the farmers will get the remunerative prices for their produce and eventually it will benefit them and they will become prosperoushence this billnew delhi;mahadeorao shiwankarnovember 16, 2006———— president's  recommendation  under  article  117(3)  of the  constitution[copy of letter no 7-27/2006-fes-es, dated 5 january, 2007 from shri sharad pawar, minister of agriculture to the secretary-general, lok sabha]the president, having been informed of the subject matter of the agricultural produce(remunerative prices) bill, 2007 by prof mahadeorao shiwankar, member of parliament, recommends the consideration of the bill under article 117(3) of the constitution in lok sabha financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of the national agricultural produce remunerative prices fixation board clause 4 provides that the board shall give wide publicity to the remunerative prices fixed for agricultural produce clause 5 provides that the central and state government agencies shall purchase agricultural produce at remunerative prices fixed by the board if the farmers fail to sell their produce in the open market clause 8 provides that the central government shall provide adequate funds for the purposes of this act the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees five hundred crores may involve as recurring expenditure per annum a sum of rupees one hundred crores may also involve as nonrecurring expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 9 of the bill gives  power to the central government to make rules for carrying out the purposes of the bill the rules will relate to matters of detail only the delegation of legislative power is of a normal character————— a billto provide for payment of remunerative prices fixed on the basis of cost of production ofthe agricultural produce to the farmers, compulsory purchase of the produce throughgovernmental agencies and compulsory market intervention by such governmentalagencies in cases of bumper crops and for the establishment of an autonomousboard for the purposes and for matters connected therewithor incidental thereto—————(prof mahadeorao shiwankar, mp)