1 Bill To Cancel 3 Farm Laws, Centre Weighs Options On Price Guarantee

A Bill to repeal the three contentious farm laws is still under preparation by the government and is awaiting approval from the Prime Minister’s Office, government sources said on Monday.

It will be one comprehensive Bill and not three separate laws. The Agriculture Ministry is also working on whether the Minimum Support Price (MSP) issue should be addressed as guidelines or in a statutory form as the farmers have been demanding.

The proposed Bill will make provisions to shut down all boards that were constituted regarding the three farm laws, and all decisions taken by them will be null and void, the source added. Any offices constituted will also cease operations. Some states had reportedly tried to operate during the brief period of six months when the laws were operational.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in an address to the nation on November 20, announced that the three farm laws that were introduced last year would be repealed.

“We haven’t been able to explain to our farmers. This is not a time to blame anyone. I want to tell you that we have taken the farm laws back,” the Prime Minister had said, urging farmers to return to their homes and fields.

Farm leaders had responded by pointing out that the farm laws were not the only issue and demanded that the government send a delegation to discuss all other pending issues with them. They reiterated the demand for a government guarantee on MSP.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the umbrella body of farmers’ organisations, has said that they would continue occupying the six protest sites at the borders of the national capital and go ahead with their scheduled protest events until the laws are formally repealed in the Parliament.