Sept 28,2020: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday gave his assent to all the three contentious farm bills, which opposition parties say are anti-farmer and corporate-friendly, after they were recently passed by Parliament during its monsoon session amid vehement protests.
The three bills – The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Bill, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 – have now become acts.
The government, which has said that these landmark legislations will make farmers self-reliant, has notified them. More than a dozen opposition parties had urged President Kovind not to sign the contentious bills, alleging that they were passed “unconstitutionally” in “complete disregard” of parliamentary norms.
Farmers, especially in Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting against the bills and have said the Centre’s farm reforms would pave a way for the dismantling of the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big companies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been trying to allay the fears of the farmers, saying that the country’s agriculture sector has unshackled itself after the passage of these bills. Farmers and the farm sector, Modi said, need to be strong to lay a strong foundation of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.
“They have the power to sell their fruits or vegetables to anyone, and anywhere. It is this power which is the foundation of their growth, now the same power has been given to farmers across the country. They have got the freedom to sell not only fruits and vegetables but grains, sugarcane, mustard and anything that they grow, they can now sell to anyone and anywhere they like,” PM Modi said while addressing the 69th edition of his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio programme.
