Farmers Movement Archive

We failed to explain benefits to some farmers, agri minister Tomar says on scrapped farm laws

Union minister for agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said he was pained by the fact that the central government failed to explain the benefits of three agri laws to a section of farmers.His statement came hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced during an address to the nation that the central government will scrap all the laws in the upcoming Parliament session.“The Prime Minister had brought the three Bills that were passed by the Parliament. They would have benefited farmers. The PM’s intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers," he said.The PM had "tried to bring changes in agriculture through these reforms, but due to some circumstances, some farmers objected," he added."When we took the path of discussions and tried to explain to them, we could not succeed. Hence, on Prakash Parv, the Prime Minister decided to repeal the farm laws. It is a welcome step," he added.He further said the Modi government is committed to the welfare of farmers and the development of the agriculture sector. "A committee will be formed on Zero Budget Farming, Minimum Support Price (MSP), crop diversification issues," the agriculture minister added.The committee will have representatives from the Centre, state governments, farmers, scientists, economists. It will submit a report on making MSP effective and transparent and other issues, Tomar added..The three farm laws that have been repealed are the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act that provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produce outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produce will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.The second law was the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act. It allowed farmers to do contract farming and market their produce freely. The third was the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act.The Farmers who have taken to the streets since November last year have said that the laws, if implemented, would leave them at the mercy of the big corporations. Along with the repeal of these laws, the farmers are also demanding a legal guarantee on the MSP

Hindustan Times

19-11-2021

India