Defective And Controversial Farm Laws Must Be Repealed And Better Laws Must Be Enacted

The fight between central govt and Indian farmers has reached at stage where central govt cannot ignore it anymore. This has happened because of the stubborn attitude of central govt for not accommodating the opinions and beliefs of various stakeholders. The central govt preferred to hard push farm laws by using the under the carpet methodology and using the concurrent list. That itself is a big hint that something really bad is about to happen.

But even on merits, the recent farm laws are poorly drafted and they are putting farmer’s interest in serious jeopardy. As in the past the govt is relying upon false promises and media propaganda but farmers are not willing to swallow the bitter pills like demonetisation and GST. They know that after the manufacturing and service sectors, it is the turn of agriculture sector. Once agriculture sector is compromised, the entire occupational structure of India would be compromised as manufacturing and services sectors have already collapsed with the recently collapsed Indian economy.

Just like crops cannot be sustained with weeds and pests, interest of farmers cannot be protected and sustained with these defective and controversial farm laws in place. That is why farmers are insisting upon their repeal and that is also the right thing to do. If they agree to amendments to these unwanted and undesirable laws, the poisonous seeds of these laws would create many casualties in near future.

Indian economy is not in a good shape and the Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worst. Despite the glorious image portrayed by media, real position at the ground level is really bad. Introducing private players in the agriculture equation is bound to raise eyebrows.

AFPOH would help Indian farmers on the fronts of online legal services and dispute resolution, education, skills development and trainings, export and import assistance, establishing marketplaces and e-commerce portals, MSP, etc. Farmers should not use a dispute resolution method that is bureaucratic in nature. Instead, they must use either courts or our online dispute resolution (ODR) portals for effective, timely and economical dispute resolution. They should also not use an e-commerce portal, online portal or contract farming agreement without the ODR clause of our startup TeleLaw. Stakeholders can chat with us at our blog for help or contact us at Twitter, e-mail, WhatsApp, etc.

Irrespective of the fact that the farm laws remain or not remain on the statute book, P4LO and its startups like AFPOH and TeleLaw can help farmers and rural communities to safeguard their interests and increase their incomes many folds.

Indian Farmers Must Not Use Any E-Commerce Website, Online Services Or Contract Farming Agreement Without ODR Clause Of TeleLaw Startup

Indian consumers, farmers and other stakeholders are living in unpredictable times. On the one hand Indian economy has collapsed due to faulty policy decisions like demonetisation, GST, etc whereas on the other hand India is facing an increased unrest. Due to faulty policy decisions, both manufacturing and service sectors have already collapsed. Now the only remaining occupational segment agriculture is facing turbulent times due to recent farm laws.

Indian farmers are demanding guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for their crops but this is just part of the problem. A bigger problem is contract farming and related agreements that farmers would sign up in near future. We at Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) have been suggesting for long that farmers must have an equal bargaining power while signing such agreements.

Startups of P4LO like AFPOH and TeleLaw can help Indian farmers in this regard if they wish to avail online services of some other third party or wish to enter into a contract farming agreement. No need to worry as we have solution for that problem as well. Simply negotiate inclusion of an ODR Clause of TeleLaw before seeking any service or entering into any contract with such third parties. We can help in multiple ways to ensure that. You can always e-mail us or chat with us online and we would help you in getting relevant ODR clause for your services or causes.

Once the ODR clause is part of your dealing, third party service providers/private companies cannot cheat you, fool you or treat you with impunity. Our ODR Clause would bind them to resolve your dispute using our ODR methods. If a third party service provider is not willing to use the ODR Clause, be cautious as your rights and interests may be in jeopardy.

So start using the ODR clause and we would always be with you in your hard times and disputes. We would charge reasonable fees based upon the amount involved in the dispute and we would always resolve your dispute in most expeditions manner.

Online Dispute Resolution By P4LO To Ensure Minimum Support Price (MSP) For Crops Of Indian Farmers

Minimum support price (MSP) has become a big controversy in India. Indian farmers are currently agitating against the recent farm laws introduced by central govt as they failed to ensure MSP for Indian farmers. Mere assurances have little value especially when we know the ground realities in India.

Problem with Indian farmers is that they are not digitally sound when it comes to protesting. We at Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) have provided a digital gateway to them that is acting as a digital companion for them. Among its many objectives, ensuring MSP for Indian farmers is one of the aim.

Another objective is to provide them with an online dispute resolution (ODR) platform were they can resolve their disputes. The dispute resolution mechanism of the farm laws is highly bureaucratic and would cause problems for farmers. It is important that they sign the contracts after proper analysis. Our startups like TeleLaw and AFPOH India are safeguarding interests of Indian farmers from all angles. From drafting suitable agreements to ensuring best prices for them, our startups are helping them in every possible manner.

In fact, TeleLaw is your best destination and resource for global online techno legal services and Indian farmers can also use the same for their betterment and upliftment. Farmers can use multiple methods to contact us and we would help them. They can use Twitter, online chat, e-mail, WhatsApp, etc right from their homes.

As far as dispute resolution is concerned, all they need is either a clause in the contracts they enter into with private companies or they can simply refer their disputes to us for ODR purposes. We would resolve them online and in a time bound manner.

So irrespective of the fact that these farm laws remain or not remain on the statute book, P4LO and its startups can help farmers and rural communities to safeguard their interests and increase their incomes many folds.

Minimum Support Price (MSP) For Crops Of Indian Farmers Must Be Ensured By All Govts

Minimum support price (MSP) has become a bone of contention these days and a massive stir by Indian farmers is currently taking place. They are protesting against the recent laws made by Central govt that have failed to specifically mention MSP as a legal right in favour of farmers. Naturally, farmers are feeling uncomfortable and relentless and we at Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) hope and wish that this situation would be resolved soon.

Indian economy is not in a good shape and the Covid-19 pandemic has made the situation worst. Despite the glorious image portrayed by the media, the real position at the ground level is really bad. In such situation introducing private players in the agriculture equation is bound to raise eyebrows.

The govt has also failed to persuade farmers that MSP would be available to them and their protests are natural. Mere promises would not help India anymore and we cannot revive Indian economy on the basis of slogans and empty promises. We need real and effective steps to be taken urgently that must be implemented at the ground level by various stakeholders.

On papers we have MSP but at the ground level farmers are not getting even a price that can cover their initial investment. Once the crops are ripen, they cannot be withheld by farmers and they have to be sold as soon as possible. This is the reason why many middlemen are exploiting them. Practically, they have just two options, i.e. either sell their crops and products at throw away prices or destroy them. Not surprisingly, many farmers have decided to choose the latter option and this is happening for many years in India.

We have startups like TeleLaw and AFPOH India that are helping Indian farmers in a techno legal manner. TeleLaw is providing them online legal help and if any person is not giving them MSP for their crops they can approach TeleLaw online. We would help them in getting MSP for their crops using techno legal methods.

AFPOH India is a digital companion and digital gateway for Indian farmers. It is helping various stakeholders for diverse fields and purposes. It is helping stakeholders to upgrade their skills, imparting education, ensuring access to justice (A2J), export and import of their products and services, etc.

As a matter of fact, with these two startups in place the MSP issue is a non issue as any person not getting MSP can contact us online from any part of India and we would help him/her/it. Stakeholders can contact us at Twitter, e-mail, using online chat at our blog, etc and we would help them in resolving their problems using techno legal methods.

So if any govt fails farmers we at P4LO would not fail them.

AFPOH Startup Is The Digital Companion And Digital Gateway For Indian Farmers

Indian farmers are unorganised in nature and when it comes to technology they are even less prepared. That is why our techno legal startup AFPOH is helping Indian farmers in various manner. From simple tech assistance to export of their produce and products, AFPOH is planning something really big that would revolutionise the lives of Indian farmers.

AFPOH would help Indian farmers on the fronts of online legal services and dispute resolution, education, skills development and trainings, export and import assistance, establishing marketplaces and e-commerce portals, etc. We would discuss these issues one by one and we would start with online legal services for Indian farmers.

AFPOH would provide online legal services to Indian farmers in association with another startup of Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) named TeleLaw. The website of TeleLaw is available at http://telelaw.in/ and its blog is available at http://telelaw.in.blog/. Farmers and rural communities can contact us through e-mail, WhatsApp, phone, chats, social media portals, etc. So there are vast number of options that are available to farmers and rural communities to contact us and get our help.

Farmers and rural communities can get our techno legal assistance for legal consultancies or for interpretation of any existing or future laws like recent farm bills. Our startups would ensure that interests of farmers and rural communities are safeguarded in best possible manner.

Farmers and rural communities can get our techno legal assistance for drafting and vetting of their contracts for contract farming or as entered with private companies or with e-commerce portals. We would ensure that rights of farmers and rural communities are adequately safeguarded in such contracts.

Farmers and rural communities can get our techno legal assistance for upgrading their knowledge, skills and education. We would train them in techno legal fields like artificial intelligence, drones, machine learning, e-commerce, cyber law, online banking, etc.

It is not possible to cover all techno legal services in a single post but it is sufficient to say that with basic Internet connection and a basic model smart phone, farmers and rural communities can have access to world class techno legal services on the most affordable rates.

We at AFPOH request the farmers and rural communities to contact us and interact with us so that we can help them in best possible manner. Contact us at perry4law(at)rediffmail(dot)com or at our Twitter accounts like @_TeleLaws, @_PTLB, @DigitalIndiaLaw, @IMPraveenDalal, @_Perry4Law, etc. Leave us a message or tweet and we would contact you back with help.

AFPOH Project Has Been Recognised As An AgriTech And Tech Startup By MeitY Startup Hub

Association For People of Haryana (AFPOH) is a unique Techno Legal Project that was started by Perry4Law Organisation (P4LO) in the year 2007. Subsequently, PTLB started managing many of the Techno Legal Projects of P4LO and AFPOH Project was also taken up by PTLB. In the year 2019, PTLB Projects LLP was registered and it was recognised as a Techno Legal Startup by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Govt of India. Also in 2019 AFPOH has been recognised as an Association of Person (AOP) by Income Tax Department, Govt of India.

Meanwhile, the AFPOH Project was also recognised as an AgriTech and tech startup by MeitY Startup Hub, an initiative of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India. So our AFPOH Project has got twin shots in the arm from both DPIIT and Meity. This has infused a new enthusiasm among the team of AFPOH Project that is ready to take up challenges faced by Indian farmers, rural communities, AgriTech entrepreneurs, etc.

Now we are working upon the next level of development and growth of AFPOH Project. We are planning to use Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, Data Analysis, etc for our AFPOH Project. The Techno Legal Center Of Excellence For Internet Of Things (TLCOEIOT) In India would extend its Techno Legal expertise in these and other fields.

We are also looking forward to various collaborations and partnerships for our AFPOH Project. Interested Angel Investors, AgriTech startups, PSUs and Govt Departments, etc are requested to contact us with their proposals in this regard. Let us work together to make Indian agriculture world class and ensure food security and food safety for India.

AFPOH Projects Got Support Of IoT, Artificial Intelligence And Other Tech

We at AFPOH have been religiously and rigorously working upon our projects in a time bound manner. So far we have out performed all our deadlines and we are tasting small victories and success one after another. In this article I am discussing about two recent enabling and empowerment actions that would make AFPOH project not only unique but a potential tool to empower rural communities, farmers, marginalised segment, etc in India.

The first enabling feature that has been added to AFPOH Project is the support of the exclusive Techno Legal Center Of Excellence For Internet Of Things (TLCOEIOT) In India. With this Internet of Things, Indian Agriculture and rural empowerment would be managed in a Techno Legal manner by AFPOH. The TLCOEIOT would also help AFPOH for areas like Artificial Intelligence, Smart Cities, Machine Learning, Big Data and Data Analysis, Data Security and Cyber Security, Privacy and Data Protection, etc that no other institution is doing as on date.

The second enabling feature is that AFPOH has been made an administrator at the exclusive Techno Legal ICT and Smart Cities Forum of India. This would allow AFPOH to play a pro active role in the use and implementation of ICT for agriculture and other projects of AFPOH rather than being just mere receptor of Techno Legal support from other projects. For the sake of clarification about the objectives and projects of AFPOH, the project is managing many Techno Legal aspects and agriculture, rural empowerment, telelaw, access to justice, resilience for all, disaster risk reduction, water harvesting and management, solar and renewable energy management, etc are just some of the examples. We would discuss about the projects of AFPOH one by one in due course of time.

Some very sensitive and crucial projects are also in pipeline that we cannot discuss or disclose at this stage. But rest assured, we would not let any stakeholder down and soon the most extensive and effective Techno Legal exercise to make Indian agriculture and rural communities empowered would start. We would cut through all rhetoric and lies and would deliver only what is true and is required.

We are also open to collaboration, partnerships, associations, etc with national and international stakeholders. Startups, companies, govt institutions, govt departments, PDUs, etc are most welcome to have partnership with us so that collectively we can make a big change.

We have pushed AFPOH project ahead of its turn under our New India Model because India is facing some serious man made and natural threats. For instance, we have a water crisis and emergency and the same must be tackled on priority. Similarly, we have a situation where farmers are committing suicide and are dying due to hunger because the policies and implementation of existing schemes are not proper. There is a complete lack of political will to tackle this situation and in these circumstances AFPOH was given an out of turn promotion so that these grave dangers can be mitigated, if not eliminated in the short term. In the long term ,we would eliminate all these vices with proper support of Central and State Governments.

Data Mismatch Denies Farmers In UP PM Kisan Scheme Funds

In a digital economy data is the power and government cannot take data creation and its management issues lightly. In India we have Digital India project that is a technology driven project and is dependent upon robust data creation and data management practices. However, till May 2019 data related issues are creating trouble for Indian government.

The latest to this series is revelation that 1.5 lakh farmers in Uttar Pradesh (UP) are yet to get PM Kisan Scheme Funds. UP Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Sahi said funds under PM KISAN scheme could not be transferred to about 1.5 lakh farmers owing to “data mismatch”, which he said will be corrected soon.

According to the Minister the UP government has sent data of 1.56 crore farmers to the Centre, of which 1.11 crore farmers have already got the first instalment of the Kisan Samman Nidhi. In the country, nearly three crore farmers have got the first instalment. UP’s share of partnership in this scheme stands at 38 per cent according to the Minister.

The PM-KISAN scheme also aims to supplement financial needs of small and marginal farmers in procuring various inputs to ensure proper crop health and appropriate yields, commensurate with the anticipated farm income at the end of each crop cycle.

Farmers all over India are protesting for one reason or other. For instance, recently farmers in Haryana have blockaded the National Highway (NH) 73 for non payment of enhanced compensation by BJP government for the acquisition of their lands by Congress government in 2013. Similarly, farmers in MP have complained that Congress government had promised to waive farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh ahead of the Assembly elections. Now after being elected, the government has failed to fulfill its promise.

Farmers have other problems too. For instance water shortage has become a crisis now and a comprehensive Techno Legal Water Policy of India 2019 is urgently needed. Similarly, Digital Village project of Modi government is also lacking actual implementation and skills shortage. To resolve problems of farmers and rural communities, PTLB has launched a TeleLaw Project that would become a voice for marginalised people of India and ensure Access to Justice (A2J) for them.

We would update our readers about this issue soon.

Digital Village Project Of Modi Government Is Very Promising If Actually Implemented

Digital India project of Narendra Modi Government is yet to take off as right now it is just on books and is part of political rhetoric only. Actual Digital India implementation is still missing even in May 2019. However, the objectives and components of Digital India are very promising and can make India a Global Leader for Digital Economy. What is required is removal of bureaucratic hurdles and development of political will to actually implement various projects under Digital India.

One of such projects is Digital Village project. We are not talking about the political jargon that is often found in the media where a village is adopted and declared as a digital village. We all know the condition of such adopted digital villages in India. They are in ruin and they have nothing digital about them. This has happened as Indian Government was more interested in browny points that actual growth and devekopment of India. For the past 5 years, Modi Government has failed on all fronts of economic development.

Let ByGones BeGone and let us focus upon coming 5 years that can be used by Modi Government to transform India into a Digital Economy. We at AFPOH are very much interested in rural empowerment, farmers’ empowerment and empowerment of rural communities. Thus, when we read about Digital Village project of Modi Government, we were excited to hear about it.

We were excited because it is not just a political jargon but it has elements that if actually implmented can make Digital Village a wonderful project. For instance, Digital Village initiative would utilise broadband connectivity provided through BharatNet for providing health and financial services, skill development programmes and education to villagers across the country. BharatNet is an existing infrastructure and so is common service centres (CSCs) that would provide low-cost WiFi connectivity to all villagers to facilitate a service delivery ecosystem. To start with, the Government hopes to provide services in over 700 villages—one in each district of the country—within the first three years, before extending it across the country. So Government’s proposal makes some sense as it is not a political rhetoric.

Now the only concern pertains to actual implementation of Digital Village project. The first key offering under the project would be a platform for different educational courses through collaboration with the National Institute for Electronics and IT (NIELIT) and Tally Solutions, leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider. In health services, the focus would be on providing primary care to citizens and cattle in the villages. In primary care services, patients can avail doctors’ advice on non-emergency medical problems that do not require doctor’s location visit through tele-consultation, where the consultation would take place through video conferencing. Government is also looking forward to arrange a system through which the villagers can avail the consultation of an expert veterinarian from the centralised location for their cattle. Under skill services to be imparted across the villages under Digital Village platform, common service centres would primarily focus on skills pertaining to automotive service technician, handset repair engineering, field technician for home appliances and electrical technician. As far as the financial services are concerned, the idea will be to provide access to useful and affordable financial products and services to each individual of the villages by creating awareness through the financial awareness inclusion programme. While Government would try and deliver these services, it would also look at more eco- friendly and sustainable energy resources such as powering streetlights through solar panels. So the implementation plan for Digital Village is good, at least on paper and till now.

This a a very ambitious and expertise oriented project and AFPOH is committed to extend its Techno Legal expertise for Digital Village project. We wish all the best to Modi Government in this regard and we are optimistic that Digital Village project would be a big hit.

Kamal Nath Government Has Failed To Fulfill Its Loan Waiver Promise So Far

It is a common trend among Indian politicians to first make false election promises and then conveniently forget about them after being elected. Not a single political party of India has fulfilled its promises and commitments made to farmers so far. This has resulted in commission of suicide by farmers on the one hand and mass agitation and violence on the other hand.

For instance, Madhya Pradesh’s Congress government had promised to waive farm loans up to Rs 2 lakh ahead of the Assembly elections. As they have been elected now they have no urgency and desire to fulfill its commitments. As a result farmers in the state are holding a three-day protest to press the Kamal Nath government to fulfill its loan waiver promise. Milk and vegetable supplies in Madhya Pradesh are likely to be affected due to this.

Update 30-05-2019: MP Govt has decided to form a State-level committee to sort out farmers’ issues and farmers have called off the strike.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) state chief Anil Yadav said the promise was yet to be fulfilled, as many farmers were still getting notices from banks threatening to declare them defaulters. The farmers are also asking for implementation of the Swaminathan panel recommendations and minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.

Protesters said supplies were disrupted in Dewas, Dhar, Ujjain and Rajgarh on the first day of the stir on Wednesday. State Agriculture Minister Sachin Yadav met the protesting farmers on Tuesday evening, but failed to pursuade them to end the demonstration. BKU leaders insisted that they wanted to meet the Chief Minister to discuss their demands.