NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar recently called for a review of regulations under the Essential Commodities Act to protect the interests of farmers and boost agriculture exports. The Essential Commodities Act seeks to regulate the production, supply and distribution of commodities that the Government declares ‘essential’ in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices. The list of such essential commodities include drugs, fertilisers, pulses and edible oils, and petroleum and petroleum products. “These regulations are like a sword hanging over farm producers.
They must be reviewed in the interest of farmers and the economy,” Kumar said while addressing the national conference on Doubling Agri Exports, organised by the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) at National Agricultural Science Complex here.