Indian Parliament passes farm law repeal bill

India’s Parliament has passed a bill to repeal three farm laws that sparked lengthy protests from farmers.

Last week, the government promised to scrap the laws in a surprise about-turn, following pressure from farmers who camped at the borders of the capital New Delhi.

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 was introduced in Parliament yesterday by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and was passed without discussion in either of the houses of Parliament.

The bill was tabled in the lower house, Lok Sabha, and approved within four minutes through a voice vote before being sent to the upper house, Rajya Sabha.

Opposition members called for a discussion on the legislation without success.

President Ram Nath Kovind is expected to give his assent to the bill to become law.

Opposition members in both houses protested against the bill and raised pro-farmer slogans.

Some members said the government was subverting the parliamentary process by evading debate on important legislation.

Last September, Parliament passed the three laws, which mainly dealt with opening the country’s agriculture sector to private companies.

It called the laws the “biggest reforms” in the history of the country, a claim contested by farmers.

Anshul Avijit, a spokesman for the Congress party, told The National that his party wanted to hold discussions on setting a minimum price that farmers would be paid for their produce.

“They passed the laws without any discussion in the first place and they repealed it unilaterally without even discussing with the farmers,” he said.

“This government has been taking unilateral decisions and fundamentally subverting all forms of democracy and all parliamentary procedures.”

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party defended the bill and said the legislation merely annulled the farm laws.

“There was no need for discussion as this was not an introduction of a bill but a repeal of the bills already passed,” said spokesman R P Singh.

There was no need for discussion as this was not an introduction of a bill but a repeal of the bills already passed

R P SINGH

BJP spokesman