New Delhi:

According to the draft policy, it aims to "build a vibrant marketing ecosystem in the country wherein farmers of all categories find a market of their choice to realise the best price for their produce". It said in a statement on Friday that a Mahapanchayat held in Bihar's Masaurhi on February 11 has called for a mass protest from March 24 to 26 in Patna. Last month, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded a year-long farmers' agitation on Delhi borders against the now-repealed farm laws, had dubbed the NPFAM "more dangerous" than the three laws. Their demands include Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar adopting a resolution in the Assembly rejecting the NPFAM, achieving MSP at C2+50 per cent with guaranteed procurement and comprehensive loan waiver among others, according to the statement.

"In Bihar, the highest percentage of the population depends on agriculture but the Nitish Kumar government is highly insensitive towards farmers and agriculture development. The agriculture market system has been privatized by the repeal of the APMC Act in 2006," it said.

It said Bihar has 95 Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) out of which 54 were set up with market yard facilities and 41 were run on rented premises.

"This is the impact of privatisation of agricultural markets in Bihar and thus a lesson to farmers and people in the country. At the peak of the farmers' struggle on Delhi borders, the RSS-BJP leaders and the corporate interest close to the Union Government were spreading the narrative that Bihar's abolition of the APMC Act was a classic example of deregulating the farm markets," the SKM said.

The SKM alleged widespread corruption in the Primary Agriculture Credit Society (PACS) and the tenant farmers and small farmers were being looted by intermediaries.

"At the all-India level, the current MSP at A2+FL+50 per cent for paddy is Rs 2,300 per quintal. But in the absence of APMC markets, farmers in Bihar get only Rs 1,800 per quintal, around Rs 500 less than the national average," the statement said.

It claimed that the Bihar government was not ready to implement the Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act-2013 that could provide four-fold compensation over updated circle rate on land being acquired for various projects.

"There would be widespread campaigns in the villages to expose the anti-farmer and anti-worker policies of the Nitish Kumar government in February and March," the SKM said and appealed to farmers to ensure massive participation in the sit-in protest in Patna from March 24 to 26.