Farmers Movement Archive

Cabinet gives nod for repeal of farm laws

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to repeal three contentious laws that resulted in tens of thousands of farmers protesting for over a year but agitating unions indicated that the stir will continue until the government legislated crop price guarantees.Union minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur said the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the formalities to roll back the laws, which were passed in September 2020. PM Modi announced in a televised address to the nation on November 19 that his government would revoke the legislation during the Winter Session of Parliament.The Cabinet’s nod will allow the government to table a “repeal bill” in Parliament to revoke three separate laws to liberalise trade in farm produce. A bulletin from the Lok Sabha on Tuesday listed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, as one of the 26 pieces of legislation to be introduced during the session.Thakur said the process of repealing the laws would begin as soon as Parliament convenes.“In the upcoming session of Parliament, it will be our priority to take back these three laws,” he added.The Winter Session will begin on November 29 and conclude on December 23.The minister did not answer questions on whether the government will consider demands from protesting farmers for law guaranteeing minimum support prices.The Samyukt Kisan Morcha , a platform for farm unions, said the agitation will continue till the government acceded to all their “rightful demands”, including statutory provisions to ensure minimum support prices for farm produce.“This protest will not end yet. We have a meeting on November 27 after which we will take further decisions...Farmers’ victory will be ensured when they get the right price for their crops,” Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait tweeted in Hindi.Under Article 245 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament is vested with powers to both pass and annul laws. If Parliament is in recess, the government can repeal or enact laws by bringing an ordinance, which needs to be ratified by the House later. The legislative process of passing, amending or scrapping legislation is largely the same, experts said. A fresh repealing bill needs to be approved to junk an existing law.“A bill to repeal an existing law and its passage is all that is needed. It has to be passed by a majority like any other law,” said GC Malhotra, former secretary-general of the Lok Sabha.The laws were aimed to ease restrictions on trade in farm produce, allow food traders to stockpile large stocks of food for future sales and lay down a national framework for contract farming based on a written agreement.Farm unions say the legislation would have left them at the mercy of large corporations, leaving them with little bargaining power.The decision to scrap the laws came ahead of state elections in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous bellwether state, and Punjab, where farmers are an influential voting bloc.Thakur said the Cabinet also approved the extension of the free food grain scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) until March. The extension will cost ₹2.6 lakh crore. Under PMGKAY, the Centre provides 5kg of foodgrain per person, per month, to nearly 793.9 million beneficiaries. PMGKAY was meant to provide higher food quantities during the pandemic. It was launched in March 2020 for the April-June 2020 period but was extended until November 30.The Opposition said the decision to withdraw the farm laws was a defeat of the Centre.“I congratulate the farmers of the country who struggled for so long and died for the cause. Today they have won and the central government has lost. Arrogance has been crushed,” said Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar alleged that the central government would not have taken the decision if there were no elections in Uttar Pradesh and other states.“There are elections in UP and other neighbouring states. As per our information, the people in power, when they visited the villages in some parts of these states, they got some different kind of reception from the locals. Considering this, they might have sensed what kind of treatment they will get when they go to seek votes. It seems that on that backdrop, this practical decision was taken,” he said.

Hindustan Times

25-11-2021

India