 bill no v of  2006 the agricultural produce (remunerative prices) bill, 2006 a billto provide for ensuring remunerative prices for the agricultural produce of the farmers  by way of fixation of minimum support price, compulsory purchase of the produce through governmental agencies and compulsory market intervention by such governmental agencies in cases of bumper crops and for the establishment of an autonomous board for the purposes and for matters connected therewith and incidental theretobe it enacted by parliament in the fifty-seventh year of the republic of india as follows:—1  (1) this act may be called the agricultural produce (remunerative prices) act, 2006(2) it extends to the whole of indiashort title, extent and commencement5(3)it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notificationin the official gazette, appointdefinitions2  in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "agricultural produce" include wheat, paddy, pulses, sugarcane, cotton, oilseeds, fruits, jute, vegetables and such other agricultural produce like bajra, jowar, millet, madwa, maize, soyabean, spices including chillies or horticultural produce which is used for human consumption or for medicinal purposes;5(b) "appropriate government" means in the cases of a state the government of that state and in other cases the central government;(c) "board" means the national agricultural proudce remunerative prices fixation board established under section 3;(d) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act103 (1) the central government shall, as soon as may be, but within 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 board for the purposes of this act15establishment of the national agricultural produce remunerative pirces fixation board(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 sued(3) the board shall consist of,—(a) a  chairperson and deputy chairperson  with qualifications in the field of agriculture or with agriculture background to be appointed by the central government;20(b) five members to be appointed by the central government in consultation with state governments, by rotation in alphabetical order, to represent the governments of the states;25(c) one member each to represent the union ministries of agriculture and fertilizers to be appointed by the central government;(d) one member to represent the indian council of agricultural research;(e) two representatives of the agricultural workers; (f) three members to be appointed by the central government from amongst the farmers representing the four regions of the country;30(g) three members of parliament of whom two shall be elected by lok sabha and one by rajya sabha(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 headquarters of the board shall be at pondicherry35(6)the board shall set up one zonal office  each in the eastern, western, northern andsouthern parts of the country at such places and also in other parts of the country as the board may deem necessary for the efficient functioning of the board and such zonal offices shall provide the necessary inputs and data of agricultural production to the board with such details and in such manner as may be prescribed40(7)the board shall have a secretariat with such number of officers and staff and withsuch terms and conditions of service as may be prescribed4 (1) the board shall  discharge the following functions, namely:—functions of the board(a) fix and declare remunerative prices of agricultural produce before every sowingseason so as to ensure that farmers do get remunerative price for their produce:45provided that different prices may be fixed for different zones of the country (b) while fixing the remunerative prices of the agricultural produce, the board shall take into account the following factors, namely:—(i) average investment made by the farmers in sowing and growing thecrop of particular agricultural produce;5(ii) average labour charges and expenditure incurred by farmers thereon; (iii) expenditure on premium of crop insurance, if applicable in the area; (iv) maintenance cost of the fields;(v) prevailing market price of the produce; (vi) climatic conditions and occurrence of natural calamity;10(c) ensure that the farmers get a reasonable and remunerative price for theirproduce(2)the board shall discharge the functions in close liaison with central and state agencies, institutions, authorities responsible for procurment, supply distribution, trade or such other activities of agricultural produce and avoid duplication of efforts in this regard15(3)the board shall give wide publicity to the remunerative prices fixed by it for the agricultural produce through electronic and print media throughout the country5 notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force,—miscellaneous provisions20(a) the central and state government agencies shall purchase the agriculturalproduce from the farmers at the prices fixed by the board in case the farmers fail to sell their produce in the open market25(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 produce offered for sale through the governmental agencies in the manner as may be prescribed(c) the appropriate government shall keep a watch on the activities of the vicious circle of traders and middlemen during the immediate post harvest period to ensure that the prices of agricultural produce do not fall below the expectations and take such measures as it may deem necessary to protect the interests of the farmers30act 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 produce35power 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 difficulty 8 the central government shall, after due appropriation made by law by parliament in this behalf, provide adequate funds for the purpose of this actcentral government to provide funds power to make rules9 the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act40 statement of objects and reasonsit has rightly been said that india lives in villages because nearly 80 per cent of our population lives in villages and majority of them are farmers who grow food for the entire nation and who 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 mainly because they have to depend upon the vagaries of monsoon and they do not get remunerative prices for the crop they grow for which they and their entire family works hard but 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 have to sell their produce at throwaway prices due to this nexus which later on is sold on premium to the consumers one small committee in the union agriculture ministry fixes the minimum support pice (msp) of some agriculture produce but it has been observed that generally the msp is not remunerative and remains below the expectations of the farmers more so, this msp 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 prosperous       hence this billv narayanasamy financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for the establishment of the national agricultural produce remunerative prices fixation board clause 8 provides that central government shall provide adequate funds the bill, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees five hundred crore may involve as recurring expenditure per annuma sum of rupees one hundred crore may also involve as non-recurring 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 details onlythe delegation of legislative power is of normal character————abillto provide for ensuring remunerative prices for the agricultural produce of the farmers byway of fixation of minimum support price, compulsory purchase of the produce through governmental agencies and compulsory market intervention by such governmental agencies in cases of bumper crops and for the establishment of an autonomous board for the purposes and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto————(shri v  narayanasamy,  mp)mgipmrnd—5993rs (s-3)—03-03-2006