News Analysis India

Tag: repeal of farm laws

  • Lok Sabha adjourned for the day amid continuous protests by Opposition

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Proceedings of the Lok Sabha were adjourned for the day on Monday amid continuous protest by Opposition members over issues pertaining to farmers.

    After the initial two adjournments, the House met again at 2 pm, but adjourned for the day as Opposition members continued with their protests, raising slogans and holding placards, demanding justice for farmers.

    Rajendra Agrawal, who was chairing the proceedings, requested members to allow the House to function but later adjourned it till Tuesday morning.

    Earlier, a bill to repeal the three contentious agricultural laws, against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, was passed within minutes of its introduction by Lok Sabha, without a discussion.

    Soon after the House reassembled at noon after a brief adjournment on the first day of the Winter Session, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar introduced the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021.

    The opposition came to the Well of the House demanding a debate on the bill and raised slogans and banners.

    The House could not take up the Question Hour amid protests by Opposition members.

  • Farmer organisations now point at MSP, mounting debts as Cabinet clears repeal of farm laws

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: As the Union Cabinet cleared repeal of three farm laws on Wednesday, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said that the move of the government after year-long agitation has only averted a possible dangerous situation in future. 

    But the present agrarian crisis — low price, no assurance of government procurement, crop failures, and mounting debt — continues to unfold under the Modi regime, the SKM said. The SKM further said that they have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks to settle these issues.

    “We have not heard anything from the Centre. We wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on November 21. We will wait till November 26, and meet on November 27 to decide on the future course of action,” said Hannan Mollah, general secretary, All India Kisan Mahasabha. 

    Mollah released a note on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and explained why farmers are not pleased with just the repeal of three laws. He said that procurement of crops is way less than even the MSP in all agriculture markets.  

    ALSO READ | Cabinet approves bill to repeal three farm laws; bill to be tabled in Parliament in winter session

    “It is a well-known fact how only a very minor share of the total procurement takes place at the prevailing MSP. According to a recent situation, a survey by the government approximates the number of rural households in India to 93.1 million. For most crops, for which MSP exists, the procurement by state agencies did not amount to more than 10 per cent of the production in 2018-19.

    Only 8.6 per cent of agricultural households cultivating paddy sold to a procurement agency, with the figure for wheat at a low of 4.9 per cent. This means that most farmers were forced to sell in the open market, where rates fall drastically below the prevailing MSP rate,” said the farmer organisation. 

    In a major climbdown, PM Modi had announced the repeal of farm laws on November 19 citing that some farmers could not be convinced about the benefits of these laws and that these will be repealed during the winter session of parliament starting November 29. 

    The farmer organisations have said that they would wait and watch the moves of the government but bigger demands of MSP guarantee and others remain unaddressed. 

  • Had Centre withdrawn agri laws earlier, deaths of 700 farmers could’ve been prevented: BJP leader

    Singh, an executive committee member of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, also called Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut “manchali” (crazy) for her remarks about the country's independence.

  • BJP leaders should desist from making provocative statements on farm laws: Mayawati

    Mayawati demanded that besides the repeal of farm laws, the other demands of the protesting farmers should be met by the government so that they can return to their homes.

  • Crucial farmer unions’ meet on Sunday to decide on agitation course; MSP issue in focus now

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: After its decision to repeal the three agri laws, the Centre is now facing pressure from agitating farmer unions and opposition parties to bring in a legislation guaranteeing Minimum Support Price, with ruling BJP MP Varun Gandhi also joining the chorus on Saturday saying the stir won’t end till this issue is resolved.

    The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of the agitating unions, is meeting on Sunday to decide on the next course of action, including on the MSP issue and the proposed daily tractor march to Parliament during the upcoming Winter Session, SKM core committee member Darshan Pal said.

    Farmer leaders said the protesters will stay put at border areas of Delhi until the Centre formally repeals these laws in Parliament after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise announcement on Friday and indicated their stir for a statutory guarantee of MSP and withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

    “Our call of tractor march to Parliament still stands. A final decision on the future course of the agitation and MSP issue will be taken in a meeting of the SKM at Singhu Border on Sunday,”Darshan Pal told PTI on Saturday.

    While the opposition needled and mocked the government after it agreed to rollback the farm laws, BJP MP Varun Gandhi, who had deviated from the party line to speak out in favour of the protesters, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to accept the farmers’ demand for a statutory MSP guarantee.

    The MP from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh said if the decision to repeal farm had been taken earlier, “innocent lives would not have been lost”.

    “This movement will not end without the resolution of this (MSP) demand and there will be widespread anger amongst them, which will continue to emerge in one form or the other.

    Therefore, it is very important for the farmers to get the statutory guarantee of MSP for their crops,” he wrote and also demanded that Rs 1 crore compensation be given to farmers “martyred” in the movement against the laws.

    Like Varun Gandhi, BSP chief Mayawati also demanded a law to guarantee MSP and withdrawal of cases against the protesters.

    “There should be a new law to ensure the minimum support price for the produce of farmers, and barring cases of serious nature, all cases registered against farmers, who are the country’s pride, should be withdrawn. This should be ensured by the Centre, and it would then be appropriate,” she tweeted.

    The Congress and Left parties have also demanded that a law should be enacted on the MSP guarantee while repealing the three laws from last year.

    Action was also sought against Union Minister Ajay Mishra for the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri by Varun Gandhi as well as Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, who also urged Modi not to share the stage with the minister during the conference of DGPs in Lucknow.

    Violence had erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 in which four agitating farmers were run over by a vehicle while four others, including a journalist and two BJP workers, were also killed.

    The opposition continued to take target the government over the withdrawal of the farm laws.

    ‘Mahabharata’ and ‘Ramayana’ teach us that arrogance ultimately gets crushed, but the fake Hindutvawadis seemed to have forgotten this and launched an attack on truth and justice like Ravana,” the Shive Sena said.

    “At least in future, the Centre should shun arrogance before bringing such laws, and take the opposition parties into confidence for the welfare of the country,” an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said, adding that BJP’s “defeat” in bypolls forced the Centre to take the decision.

    Congress leader P Chidambaram claimed Prime Minister Modi made the announcement to repeal the farm laws without holding a Cabinet meeting and alleged that it is only under the BJP that laws are made and unmade without prior Cabinet approval.

    Union minister General V K Singh, however, lamented the insistence of a section of farmers on a rollback of the reform legislation.

    “I asked a farmer leader to tell me what is black (in the farm laws). You people say this is a black law. I asked them what is black barring the ink (used). They said we endorse your view but these (laws) are still black,” the former Army chief told reporters in Basti, Uttar Pradesh.

    “What is the cure (for this)? There is no cure,” he said expressing his exasperation.

    “In farmers’ organisations, there is a fight for supremacy among themselves. These people cannot think about the benefits to small farmers,” he said.

    The farmer leaders said the unions were discussing the developments and will participate in the SKM meeting on Sunday.

    “We have decided not to leave the site till these laws are formally repealed in Parliament. Mobilisation of farmers on Delhi borders on November 26 to mark the first anniversary of the agitation will continue,” farmer leader at Tikri Border and SKM member Sudesh Goyat said.

    Hundreds of protesting farmers have been camping at important stretches of Delhi’s borders in Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur since November 2020, forcing people to take detours during interstate travel.

    It now appears that commuters will have to wait for some time for any reprieve on this front.

    On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Centre will repeal the three farm laws after the nearly year-long agitation by a section of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

    The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the three laws in January.

  • Decision to repeal three farm laws is step in positive direction: Rajasthan Governor

    By PTI

    BHADOHI: Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra on Saturday said that the Centre’s decision to repeal the three farm laws, which triggered a year of protests by farmers, is a step in the positive direction.

    He, however, noted that the legislations are in the interests of farmers but the “administration could not make some of the farmers understand”.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced repeal of the three agri laws and also apologised to the people over his government not being able to “convince” a section of farmers about the “truth” regarding the legislations’ benefits “The announcement of repealing the three farm laws is a step in the positive direction.

    The act of repealing the laws with courage and valour is praiseworthy.

    The laws were made in the interest of farmers, but the administration could not make some of the farmers understand,” Mishra said.

    The governor was in Babhannauti village in Uttar Pradesh’s Bhadohi district to attend a marriage programme.

    He also said that owing to the farmers’ protest to demand the withdrawal of the three farm laws, there was a “peculiar situation (‘vichitra sthiti’)” in the country, which does not exist now.

    When asked about political developments in Rajasthan, Mishra said that he is keeping a watch, but refused to elaborate.

  • Gehlot accuses Modi of mocking farmers in Parliament

    By PTI

    JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “mocked” the farmers in an animated manner and called them “andolanjeevi”, but those theatrics were missing when he announced the repeal of three farm laws.

    Gehlot claimed that the Modi dispensation decided to repeal the farm laws under pressure of the assembly elections in five states, including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and that the government was “scared”.

    “The prime minister was speaking in Parliament with ‘latke-jhatke’ (gestures), which he usually does. On Friday, those ‘latke-jhatke’ were missing,” Gehlot said.

    He also asked why Modi chose to make the announcement at 9 am when people are engaged in household chores and gearing up for work.

    “Around 15-20 of their leaders (BJP and allies) made sarcastic comments against the farmers. They referred to the farmers as Khalistanis and naxals. Imagine the plight of the ‘annadatas’ (farmers) when such remarks were made against them,” Gehlot said at the Kisan Vijay Diwas programme in Jaipur.

    Modi and parliamentarians from the ruling party “mocked and laughed” at the farmers.

    However, they all got “exposed” on Friday when an apology was tendered, the chief minister alleged.

    Gehlot claimed that the BJP was afraid of the elections and therefore, its national president JP Nadda, defence minister and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Rajnath Singh, and Home Minister Amit Shah were looking after booth management.

    “Democracy and the Constitution are under threat. Fascist people, who have nothing to do with the farmers, are in power,” he alleged.

    Raking up the Lakhimpur Kheri issue, Gehlot said it was unfortunate that Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra had not been sacked.

    AICC general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken cautioned the farmers and Congress leaders to be alert as, according to him, the intention of the government was “malafide”.

    “The government brought an ordinance to extend the tenure of the Enforcement Directorate and CBI heads. A similar thing should have been done to repeal the farm laws. We doubt the intention of the central government and hence, we need to exercise caution,” he said.

  • What’s black in farm laws except for its ink, asks Union MoS V K Singh

    By PTI

    BASTI: Barring the ink used to write them, what was black in the farm laws, Union minister General (Retired) V K Singh asked farmers on Saturday, lamenting the insistence of one of their sections forcing a rollback of the reform legislation.

    “I asked a farmer leader to tell me what is black (in the farm laws). You people say this is a black law. I asked them what is black barring the ink (used),” the former Army chief told reporters here, recounting his interaction with a farmer leader.

    “They said we endorse your view but these (laws) are still black,” said Singh “What is the cure (for this)? There is no cure,” he said expressing his exasperation.

    “In farmers’ organisations, there is a fight for supremacy among themselves. These people cannot think about the benefits to small farmers,” he said.

    Singh, the Union minister of state for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation, asserted that the BJP will register a grand win in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

    “You will see yourself the way the BJP will win the upcoming UP assembly elections,” he said.

    He also said it was the BJP government, which implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee report.

  • Accept farmers MSP demand; take action against Union Minister Ajay Mishra: Varun Gandhi to PM Modi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Saturday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept farmers’ demand for statutory MSP guarantee for their crops and also sought action against Union Minister Ajay Mishra for the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.

    In a letter to the prime minister, the MP from Pilibhit in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh said that till this demand of farmers’ is not met, their movement will not end.

    Gandhi’s remarks came a day after the prime minister in his address to the nation announced repeal of the three farm laws which triggered a year of protests by farmers.

    The announcement of the withdrawal of the contentious laws was warily welcomed by leaders of the farmers’ unions spearheading the agitation but they said the protests will continue till the measures are repealed in Parliament and Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops gets legal guarantee.

    Gandhi thanked Modi for his “large-heartedness” in announcing the decision to repeal the three farm laws, but added “more than 700 farmer brothers and sisters have been martyred in this movement”, as they peacefully protested in extremely difficult and hostile conditions.

    “If this decision had been taken earlier, innocent lives would not have been lost,” he said.

    In his letter posted on Twitter, Gandhi underscored the need to accept the farmers’ demand for legal guarantee of MSP.

    “This movement will not end without the resolution of this demand and there will be widespread anger amongst them, which will continue to emerge in one form or the other.

    Therefore, it is very important for the farmers to get the statutory guarantee of MSP for their crops,” he wrote.

    The BJP leader said the legal binding on MSP will give sizeable economic security cover to farmers and will empower small and marginal farmers.

    “My humble request to you is that the government must immediately accept this demand in the interest of our nation,” Gandhi said in his letter to the prime minister.

    He said MSP should also be based on the C2+50 per cent formula of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.

    Describing the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which farmers were among eight people killed, as heartbreaking and a “blemish on our democracy”, Gandhi said, “.

    It is my request to you that appropriately strict action is taken against the Union minister who has been connected to this incident, so that there is a fair enquiry.”

    The BJP MP Gandhi made the request to the prime minister without taking Mishra’s name.

    He also claimed that the Lakhimpur incident was outcome of the adversarial atmosphere created against the farmers’ movement by provocative statements of many leaders sitting in senior positions.

    Gandhi also demanded that Rs 1 crore compensation be given to farmers “martyred” in this movement against the laws and that all “politically motivated false” FIRs against the protesting farmers be quashed.

    Concluding his letter, Gandhi said that farmers expect that their demands will be resolved in a timely and sensitive manner and asserted that democracy runs on constitutionality, discourse and empathy.

  • Repealing farm laws: An earlier decision could have saved precious lives, say kin of ‘martyred’ farmers

    Express News Service

    CHANDIGARH: After a year-long struggle at the Delhi borders, the farmers have finally come out victorious as the Prime Minister has ordered the repeal of the three contentious farm laws.

    However, the victory came with a heavy price — 669 lives were lost due to heatwave, hailstorms, harsh winters, accidents, falling from tractor trolleys, run over by trucks, heart attacks, Covid-19 and dengue outbreak during the farmers’ agitation. 

    The families of the ‘martyred’ farmers feel that an earlier decision could have saved precious lives. The farmers’ fear of losing their land that came with the three farm laws proved a turning point in making the protest a true people’s movement in Punjab.

    Economic profiling of the deceased farmers was done in a study by economists associated with Punjabi University recently. It found that majority of those who died were small and marginal farmers.

    The first casualty was reported on November 24 last year when a large group of farmers was covering tractor-trolleys with waterproof sheets at Mehal Kalan in Barnala. Kahan Singh, an activist of the BKU (Dakaunda) from Dhaner village, was hit by a car on the roadside where trollies were parked for the preparations for the Delhi march and died on the spot. “Kahan was the first martyr of the Delhi agitation,” recalls Manjit Dhaner of BKU (Dakunda).

    ALSO READ | PM Narendra Modi orders repeal of three farm laws ahead of Assembly polls in five states

    Rajinder Singh Deep Singhwala of Kirti Kisan Union says, “Besides our fellow farmers dying in road tragedies, nature was not kind to us. It is a lesson for the coming generations which will know that only struggle defeated the undefeatable and we achieved the unimaginable.”

    Farmer Bhupinder Singh, who has recently lost his brother Gurbhej Singh of Saidolehal village in Amritsar, says, “We welcome the decision of PM Modi for taking a good decision but it should have been done earlier so that many lives could have been saved. All the innocent farmers who were killed during the agitation have beome martyrs for the farmers’ community as they died protesting against the three draconian black farm laws.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Modi government has to bring bill to repeal three agri laws’: Experts

    A 55-year-old Ninder Kaur of Sawaike in Ferozepur said that his son Lovejeet Singh (23) attained martyrdom in January this year at Singhu Border during the protest. “He was supporting the agitation from day one and used to tell me that the farmers’ will definitely win someday. His soul must be happy after this news.”

    Gurmit Kaur (58), the wife of 60-year old farmer Jarnail Singh (60) of Pipli Chak in Guruharsahai sub-division of Ferozepur, said her husband had died due to cardiac arrest during the dharna at Singhu border in June this year. “His sacrifice has finally paid off as the Centre repealed the farm laws. I am so happy that the farmers, who were fighting for their rights, have finally won on this sacred day (Guru Nanak Jayanti).

    “We welcome the decision. The Parliament should now bring a bill to formality repeal the three farm laws at the earliest possible. The government should also have made this announcement earlier in order to save the lives of more than 700 farmers. It is the turn of the Punjab government to fulfill its promise of giving jobs to a family member of each farmer martyred during the agitation. What happened in the past was an irrecoverable loss,” Jagdish Singh, who lost his brother Davinder Singh from Maluwal village in Amritsar, said.