- Wednesday, April 24, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
FOLLOWING months of relentless protests by farmers, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday (19) announced that the three controversial agricultural laws against which the peasant community is protesting will be repealed.
In an address to the nation, Modi said, “Today I want to tell everyone that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws.”
The farmers have been protesting against the laws since the government passed the laws last year saying private hands will gain at the expense of their interests.
Of the three farm laws, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the agriculture produce market committees. Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act which allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act which is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act.
Modi apologised to the countrymen for the farm laws over which his government “failed to convince” the farmers. Saying the procedure for repealing the farm laws will begin at the parliament’s winter session starting later this month, the prime minister added, “I urge farmers to return home to their families and let’s start afresh.”
“Today, while apologising to the countrymen, I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that perhaps there must have been some deficiency in our efforts, due to which we could not explain the truth like the light of the lamp to some farmers,” he said.
Modi said that is the holy festival of light of Guru Nanak Dev and it is not the time to blame anyone.
“Whatever I did, I did for farmers. What I am doing, is for the country. With your blessings, I never left out anything in my hard work. Today I assure you that I will now work even harder, so that your dreams, nation’s dreams can be realised,” he added.
The prime minister also announced the formation of a committee to promote zero-budgeting based agriculture, to change crop patterns as per the changing needs of the country and to make the minimum-support price more effective and transparent.
“The committee will have representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists, and agricultural economists,” he said.
Modi said the government made these laws for the welfare of farmers, especially small farmers, in the interest of the agriculture sector, for a bright future of ‘gaanv-gareeb‘ (village-poor),.
“A sacred thing, absolutely pure, a matter of farmers’ interest, we could not explain to some farmers despite our efforts. Agricultural economists, scientists, progressive farmers also tried their best to make them understand the importance of agricultural laws,” he added.
