President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday gave his consent to the three controversial agricultural bills, which opposition parties say are anti-farmer and pro-business, after they were recently approved by Parliament.
The government, which has said that these landmark laws will make farmers self-sufficient, has notified them. More than a dozen opposition parties had urged President Kovind not to sign the controversial bills, claiming they were passed “unconstitutionally” in “total disregard” of parliamentary rules.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) even withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Center over the passage of controversial agricultural bills, which the Punjab-based party said they were “lethal and disastrous.” The SAD and the BJP had been allies since 1996 when the two forged a pre-election alliance prior to the 1997 Punjab assembly elections that brought them to power.
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The Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020 seeks to give farmers freedom to sell their products outside of APMC’s notified market yards (mandis). This, says the government, is aimed at facilitating remunerative prices through competitive alternative commercial channels.
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The Agricultural Price Assurance and Services Agreement for Farmers (Empowerment and Protection), 2020, seeks to grant farmers the right to enter into a contract with agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for the sale of future agricultural products at a previously agreed price. And the 2020 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill seeks to remove commodities such as grains, legumes, oilseeds, onions and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and will eliminate the imposition of stock storage limits.
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The SAD led by Sukhbir Singh Badal had asked the central government not to bring the bills to parliament until “all reservations” expressed by farmers are “duly addressed”. But when the Center ignored it, the SAD asked the government to send these agricultural bills to a select committee, which did not happen. SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal later resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest.
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