President Kovind gives his assent to all three Farm Bills amid nationwide farmer protests

Amid massive farmer protests, President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday, gave his assent to all three Farm Bills passed by the Parliament - Essential Commodities (Amendment) 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm services Act 2020 and the Farmers' produce trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020. Previously, Rajya Sabha's Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and a delegation of Akali Dal leaders met with the President separately, urging him to not sign these bills into law. BJP's oldest ally Akali Dal has already quit the NDA in protest to these Bills.

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President signs Farm Bills into law

Cong's Ghulam Nabi Azad urges President Kovind to withhold assent to farm bills

Farmers protests against the 3 bills

In the food bowl of India - Punjab and Haryana, 31 farmer organisations under aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) staged a Bharat Bandh, taking to the streets to block highways. Farmers have also extended their 'Rail Roko' till September 29 against the bills and squatted on tracks at many places in Punjab. Similar protests are currently underway in Karnataka, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu with farmers demanding rollback of the bills. In Tamil Nadu, farmers sat outside Collector's office in Trichy with human skulls, chained hands, and nooses around their necks to demonstrate against the Bills.

Prime Minister Modi has assured farmers that mandis and minimum sale price will remain, allaying the main concern of farmers and lashed out at the Opposition for 'spreading rumours'.  The Centre also increased the minimum support price of wheat by Rs 50 per quintal to Rs 1,975 per quintal, to allay farmers' fears. Several states like Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Chhatisgarh have pledged to 'not implement these laws'. 

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Farm Bills passed amid ruckus

In the Rajya Sabha, these Bills were passed amid a massive ruckus. While opposing the bills in Rajya Sabha, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and Rajeev Satav stormed the well and stood on the table in front of the Chair and raised slogans like 'down with dictatorship', while clapping. Meanwhile, TMC MP Derek O'Brien stormed to the Chair and attempted to tear the rule book, while raising slogans. The Rajya Sabha TV feed was temporarily cut off amid the chaos. Taking action, Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu suspended 8 MPs - Trinamool's Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen, AAP's Sanjay Singh, CPM's KK Ragesh and Elamaram Karim And Congress' Rajiv Satav and Syed Naseer Hussain for the remainder of the session.

TN farmers protest against Farm Bills with chained hands, human skulls & noose around neck

What are the three farm bills?

As the country opened up after lockdown, the Centre promulgated three ordinances affecting agriculture. Agriculture foodstuff including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions, and potato are to be deregulated while stock limits were to be imposed only under extreme conditions, under the amendment to the Essential Commodities act. The Farmers' produce trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act was to enable better price realisation for farmers by attracting investments - making agriculture sector competitive.  Under the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm services ordinance, 2020, it provided a framework for the protection and empowerment of farmers with reference to the sale and purchase of farm products overriding all state APMC laws.