Bye to farm laws

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his televised address to the nation on November 19 announced that the government has decided to repeal the three controversial farm laws passed in the Monsoon Session of Parliament last September.

            Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting against the three laws for close to a year now. Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are heading to assembly polls early next year.

           Farmers are protesting for so many months against their act called farm bills described as “Anti Farmer” law people have been protesting for nine months against the law  which  were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020 .The protest has also been joined by farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Tamil Nadu some of the villages also support protest.The three laws aim to change the way agricultural produce is marketed, sold and stored across the country. They are mostly focussed on the forward linkages to the agricultural sector.The issue reached the courts and the Supreme Court on January 12 suspended the implementation of the three farm laws until further orders.and now our PM repeals  the acts.

   

      Why farm laws are controversial?

1. The Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 .This law allowed farmers to trade their produce outside the physical markets notified under various state Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee laws (APMC acts). It overrode all the state-level APMC acts.Farmers feared the new rules would lead to inadequate demand for their produce in local markets. They said transporting the produce outside mandis would not be possible because of lack of resources. This is precisely why they sell their produce at lesser than MSP prices in local markets.

2. Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 .The law sought to create a legal framework for contract farming in its Sections 3-12. The farmers could enter into a direct agreement with a buyer before sowing season to sell their produce at pre-determined prices. It allowed setting up of farming agreements between farmers and sponsors. The law, however, did not mention the MSP that buyers need to offer to farmers.

3. Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Through an amendment, to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, this law did away with the Centre’s powers to impose stockholding limit on food items, except under extraordinary circumstances.

This repeal is a victory for the protesters and farmers.Farmers have fought hard for the past 9 months and they deserve it.🌾