President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday signed the three agricultural bills, thereby legitimising the farm bills into laws, even as farmers and opposition parties continue to protest against the contentious legislations. The three farm bills -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and Essential Commodities Bill - have officially become laws.
President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday signed the three agricultural bills, thereby legitimising the farm bills into laws, even as farmers and opposition parties continue to protest against the contentious legislations. The three farm bills -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and Essential Commodities Bill - have now officially been enacted as laws.
The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 aims to permit the sale of agricultural produce outside the mandis regulated by the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMC) constituted by different state legislations.
Thousands of farmers in Punjab, Haryana and several other states have been protesting since the government introduced these Bills in the Lok Sabha on September 14, the opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the kisan krishi legislations, pointing that it was a 'watershed moment' for agriculture in India. Notably, the central government has claimed that the new agricultural legislation will make it easier for farmers to sell their produce directly to big buyers, despite growing protest from opposition parties over the issue.
The laws replace the Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020 promulgated on June 5.
The Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Law provides a new ecosystem in which farmers and traders, as per the government, will enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of their products and facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter- and intra-state trade and commerce.
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Law provides a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers.
The Essential Commodities Law removes fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations. The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply will lead to harnessing of economies of scale and attract private sector/foreign direct investment into the agriculture sector. It will help drive up investment in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain
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 "India, farm bills, farming, agriculture, President, Ram Nath Kovind, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Parliament, Monsoon Session")
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