Published 23:46 IST, September 17th 2020
PM Modi present in Parliament late night as farm reform bills get passed in Lok Sabha
On his 70th birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in the Parliament late at 10:00 pm to pass the contentious farm sector reform bills.
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On his 70th birthday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in Parliament late at 10:00 pm to pass contentious farm sector reform bills.
After a long debate over three farm ordinances, Lok Sabha on Thursday passed Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. three bills aimed at massive agricultural reforms were introduced on first day of ongoing monsoon session by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. With support of AIADMK, YSRCP, TDP, BJD and or allies BJP-led coalition won voice vote passing all three bills.
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Ashok Gulati, Agriculture Professor at ICRIER, also hailed PM Modi's efforts to reform sector.
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SAD: Badal resigns in protest
During debate, BJP's staunch ally Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) opposed three Farm bills in Lok Sabha. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal anunced that Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal will resign from government to protest farm bills. minister herself confirmed same on twitter.
Lauding her act, Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said that 'she displayed her guts by opposing this draconian legislation'. Meanwhile, Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh alleged it was 'atrics' enacted by Akali Dal. Pointing out that Akali Dal had t quit from BJP-led NDA coalition, he said that her resignation was done to save Akali Dal's 'dwindling political fortunes'.
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Opposing bills, Congress MPs from Punjab stormed out of parliament and burnt copies of bills outside Lok Sabha. y claimed that Centre was attempting 'bring everything under ambit of Parliament'. Meanwhile, RSM accused he BJP government of using Covid-19 pandemic situation to bulldoze agricultural reforms, misusing Presidential power under Article 123 of Constitution. Trinamool too vehemently opposed bills stating, "Behind every single new Bill, Bill replacing ar ordinance, is singular sinister motive of this government to destroy federalism." As voting began, Congress and DMK MPs walked out of Assembly.
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What are three Farm bills?
Amid nationwide lockdown, Centre rolled out three governance and administrative reforms in agriculture amending Essential Commodities act to enable better price realisation for farmers by attracting investments - making agriculture sector competitive. Agriculture foodstuff including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato to be deregulated while stock limits were to imposed under extreme conditions. Under Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm services ordinance, 2020, it provided a framework for protection and empowerment of farmers with reference to sale and purchase of farm products overriding all state APMC laws.
three farm bills have seen widespread protests across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, with thousands of farmers blocking roads. At Kurukshetra, police resorted to lathicharge to disperse agitators, leading to massive outr criticising Police and Haryana government. While Haryana Congress leaders claimed that ruling BJP government is anti-farmers, Mahar Lal Khattar government stayed mum till Saturday. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has already passed a resolution in Assembly, rejecting three ordinances, assuring farmers all cases will be withdrawn for ir protests.
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23:35 IST, September 17th 2020