Rajya Sabha passes Farm Bills by voice vote amid Opposition protest

The Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill on Sunday as Opposition MPs created a ruckus during the session. 

Members of the Trinamool Congress, including Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and other opposition members had earlier climbed the chairperson’s podium. They did so after their demand for voting on motion to send the Farm Bills to select panel was not considered. O’Brien also entered the well to show the rule book to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh during the debate on the contentious Farm Bills.

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar moved the Farmer Bills at the Rajya Sabha on Sunday. “The two Bills are historic and will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. The farmers will be able to freely trade their products anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these Bills are not related to Minimum Support Price,” he said.

The Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 have sparked controversies since its approval in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition parties, as well as several other agricultural outfits have been protesting against them, alleging that these legislations will account for dismantling the minimum support price system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporates.

“PM said that Opposition is misleading the farmers. You (Centre) said double farmer income by 2022. But, at current rates, the farmer income will not be doubled before 2028. Your credibility is low to make promises,” Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said in Rajya Sabha on Sunday.

Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from her position in the Union Cabinet on September 18 opposing the Bills after they were passed in the Lok Sabha, as several farmer associations continue to protest in Delhi against them.