Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced the government’s decision to repeal the contentious three farm laws, which was considered “anti-farmers” by the farmers in India.
In his address to the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, Modi said the three farm laws will be repealed in the coming Winter session of Parliament.
"Today I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to withdraw all three agricultural laws. In the Parliament session starting later this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three agricultural laws,” Modi said.
The prime minister said that the three farm laws were brought about in the effort to improve the condition of the farmers, specially small farmers, that they should get the right price for their produce and maximum options to sell the produce. He said that despite all efforts made, the farmers could not be convinced of the benefits of the three farm laws that could empower them.
The farmers across the country had been strongly condemning and protesting against the three farm laws of 2020 namely - the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance, Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Parliament passed the three acts in September 2020 and recieved the presidential sign on September 27, 2020.
“I have seen the challenges of the farmers very closely in my five decades of public life, that is why, when I was given the opportunity to serve the country as Prime Minister in 2014, we gave the highest priority to agriculture development and farmers welfare,” he said.
The prime minister said that four prong measures of seeds, insurance, market and savings were taken to ameliorate the conditions of farmers. Along with good quality seeds, the government also connected the farmers with facilities like neem coated urea, soil health card and micro irrigation, he said.
Pointing out that many initiatives have been taken for the farmers to get the right price for their produce in return for their hard work, he said the country has strengthened its rural market infrastructure.
“We not only increased the MSP, but also created a record number of government procurement centers. The procurement of the produce made by our government has broken the records of the last several decades,” he said.
In the spirit of holy Gurupurab, Modi said, "Today is not the day for blaming anyone and rededicated himself to working for the welfare of the farmers".
Modi then announced the formation of a committee to promote zero budgeting based agriculture, to change crop pattern as per the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent. The committee will have representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists, and agricultural economists, he said.
Meanwhile, several farmers' groups welcomed the government’s decision to repeal the three farm laws. Welcoming the announcement, the largest protesting farmers group, Bharatiyan Kisan Union's (BKU) Ugrahan faction, said the farmers’ unions in the country will meet and decide on the further course of action, according to reports.
