President Ram Nath Kovind.
Kovind’s assent to the farm laws comes days after opposition parties met with him and asked him not to pass the Center’s controversial farm laws.
- News18.com
- Last update: September 28, 2020 12:24 AM IST
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President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday gave his approval to three controversial farm bills, even as protests by opposition and farmer groups continued.
Parliament recently approved the 2020 Trade in Agricultural Products and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, the 2020 Farmers’ Agricultural Price and Services Guarantee Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) and the Essential Products Bill (Amendment) 2020, amid a massive uproar from opposition parties. The bills were awaiting presidential approval.
Shortly after the president’s approval of the bills, the Maharashtra government announced that it would not implement the “anti-farmers” law in the state. “The bills passed by Parliament are against farmers. That is why we oppose it. Maha Vikas Aghadi will also oppose it and will not implement it in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena is also with us. We will sit down together and form a strategy,” added. Mahrashtra Finance Minister Balasaheb Thorat said.
Shiromani Akali Dal, who formally severed ties with the NDA led by the Bharatiya Janata Party a day ago, announced a ‘Kisan March’ on October 1. “The Kisan March will start on October 1 from the three Takhts and will go to Mohali. A memorandum to the governor and the president that these ordinances must not be passed and the Center must withdraw them,” said party chairman Sukhbir. Singh Badal, minutes before the president’s approval came.
Later, he said that it is sad to see that the president did not heed the farmers’ cries. “It is extremely sad that @rashtrapatibhvn has refused to heed the cries of farmers and Punjabis and signed the bill #FarmBills and J&K excluding #Punjabi as an official language. Hope the president will act as the conscience of the nation and return bills to Parliament crushed. “Badal tweeted.
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh called the move “unfortunate and distressing.” He said his government is exploring all options, including possible amendments to state laws, to protect the interests of farmers.
Singh said his government was already in consultation with legal and agricultural experts, and all those affected by the central government’s “dire” laws will decide on the future course of action.
Kovind’s assent to the farm laws comes days after opposition parties met with him and asked him not to pass the Center’s controversial farm laws. They had also boycotted Parliament in protest at the way the Center passed the bills.
The president gives his consent to the three #FarmBills : ▪️Farmers ‘Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020▪️ Farmers’ Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Price Guarantee and Farm Services Act, 2020▪️ Essential Commodities Bill (Amendment) 2020 pic.twitter.com/PmjG4jNopC
– All radio news from India (@airnewsalerts) September 27, 2020
The congressional deputy and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam, Nabi Azad, said that the bills had been passed unconstitutionally. “There was no division of votes, no voting by voice,” he said. “Constitutional procedures were mocked in the temple of democracy.”
Members of the opposition parties protested against the bills, calling them “murder of democracy”.
Farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have also been protesting on the train tracks near the Amritsar village of Devidaspura since September 24. Sitting on the train track, bare-chested protesters shouted slogans against the BJP-led central government on Saturday and demanded that farm bills be withdrawn.
The committee had announced on Friday to extend its three-day ‘rail roko’ agitation from September 26 to 29. The ‘rail roko’ unrest had started on Thursday, forcing the rail authorities to suspend the operation of special passenger trains in the state. .
Farmers have expressed fear that the Center’s agricultural reforms would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system and would be at the “mercy” of large corporations. The farmers said they would continue their fight until the three agricultural laws are repealed.
The Center, however, defended the approval of agricultural laws and accused opposition parties, including Congress, of engaging in politics. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad assured farmers that they will not have to sell their products for less than MSP.
He rejected all the protests, saying they were all sponsored by those who will be hit, the Congress and the Opposition. “But our commitment to the farmers remains, and once people realize the reality, the Opposition will be exposed,” said the Union minister.
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