New Delhi, September 27
President Ram Nath Kovind gave his consent on Sunday to three controversial farm bills passed in Parliament last week that have sparked protests by farmers, especially in Punjab and Haryana.
These three agricultural laws are: the Agricultural Products Trade and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Agricultural Price Guarantee and Services (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Farmers, 2020 and the Essential Products Act (Amendment ) 2020.
A notice has been issued in the bulletin in this regard.
Last week, Parliament passed bills that aim to liberalize the agricultural sector and allow farmers to sell their products anywhere they want at a better price.
However, the opposition criticizes the way these bills were passed in Parliament. They had alleged that the bills were passed “unconstitutionally” in “total disregard” of parliamentary norms.
They had asked the president to return the bills and to give his consent only after he had passed them after following the proper rules and procedures.
Even the NDA’s oldest ally, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), broke away on Saturday on the issue of these farm laws as farmers in Punjab and Haryana escalated protests.
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The government has claimed that these bills will allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere they want at a better price.
The Draft Law on Trade in Agricultural Products and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) of 2020 aims to allow the sale of agricultural products outside the mandis regulated by the Agricultural Products Marketing Committees (APMC) constituted by different state legislations.
The 2020 Farmers’ Farm Service and Price Guarantee Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) provides for contract farming.
The 2020 Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill aims to deregulate the production, supply and distribution of foods such as grains, legumes, potatoes and onions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after the passage of two of the three bills by Parliament last week, called the laws a “watershed moment” in the history of Indian agriculture that will empower millions of farmers.
The prime minister in his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast on Sunday said that a large number of farmers have benefited since fruits and vegetables were removed from the APMC Act in some states a few years ago and claimed that grain-producing farmers now have the same freedom.
Farmer protests against the laws continued on Sunday, with Punjabi peasants squatting on the Amritsar-Delhi train track. Farmers, under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, have been organizing a sit-in on the train tracks in Punjab since last Wednesday.
Farmers have expressed fear that the Center’s agricultural reforms would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum price support system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big business. – PTI
