Two farm bills clear Parliament amid Opposition protests

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two contentious farm bills, which have triggered protests by farmers at several places, amid uproar by opposition members. These bills will now be sent to the President of India for assent.

The two bills -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, had, since its introduction, invited a lot of criticism, triggering protests by farmers across the country.

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The second bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, provides for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services.

These bills were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.

A third bill, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, that seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and will do away with the imposition of stock holding limits, is to be moved in the Rajya Sabha separately.

Opposition's protest

The Congress and other opposition party member sat in protest inside Rajya Sabha even after the House was adjourned for the day after the passage of two farm bills. Earlier, the House witnessed uproarious scenes and slogan-shouting after notices to move motions for sending the bills to a Select Committee for further scrutiny were not considered.

The speaker had to adjourn the house for 10 minutes after several members of the opposition rushed to the Well and tore up the rule book.

The Congress called the contentious Bills a "death warrants" for the peasants.

Initiating the discussion on these two bills, Congress member Partap Singh Bajwa, who hails from Punjab and is one of the most vociferous opponents of the Bills, said: "We will not sign on these death warrants of farmers. Agricultural markets are a State subject. APMC and MSP shouldn't be tinkered with."

He also raised the issue of the timing of the Bills, which were passed by the Lok Sabha, saying that the pressing need for the Bills to be brought in when India is battling the coronavirus pandemic and LAC tension was beyond comprehension.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India-Marxist MP KK Ragesh called the Bills "corporate's freedom". He said: "The government is throwing the farmers at the mercy of our corporates. This is not the farmers', but corporates' freedom. They are prone to sell their produce according to the dictates of the corporates."

Taking a dig at the Centre's claim to double the income of farmers by 2020, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said that it cannot be doubled before 2028. He was referring to the Prime Minister's remarks on Saturday that some persons were trying to mislead and even lie to the farmers.

The bills had faced staunch opposition from farmer bodies as well as from within the ruling coalition. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the food processing minister from the Shiromani Akali Dal party, had resigned from the government last week.

(With inputs from PTI)