The three contentious farm laws were on their way to being scrapped on Monday with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passing a repeal bill on the first day of the winter session. It took just four
minutes for the BJP-ruled Indian government to pass the Bill. 

The Farms Laws Repeal Bill 2021 was
introduced by Union Minister of Agriculture
and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar after “a group of farmers” from
Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh staged a year-long protest on the outskirts of Delhi, demanding withdrawal of the three laws. Though the BJP government repealed the laws, farmers have continued their protests, seeking a
new law for minimum support price (MSP) on farm produce.

Also Read: Winter session of Parliament begins today: All you need to know

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 sets out to overturn three laws – Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement
on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Essential Commodities
(Amendment) Act, 2020 – and amending the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Prime Minister Narendra
Modi announced on November 19 the government would withdraw the three laws, given the
ongoing farmers’ protests.

The laws were repealed a couple of months before the Uttar Pradesh elections scheduled in February.

Two days after the Prime Minister’s
announcement, the Union Cabinet cleared the draft of the repeal bill. On Monday, the bill was unanimously passed as the opposition boycotted the sessions in the lower and upper houses.

The six-page Bill has only three sections.
While the first section defines the title of the Act – the Farm Laws Repeal
Act, 2021, the second section has provisions to repeal three farm laws, and the
third section relates to omitting sub-section (1A) from section 3 of the
Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

What reasons the government has given while
repealing the farm laws?

While introducing the Bill in the lower house, Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated, “Even
though only a group of farmers are protesting against these laws, the
Government has tried hard to sensitise the farmers on the importance of the
Farm Laws and explain the merits through several meetings and other forums.”

Also Read: A look back at farm laws and farmers’ protest

“Without taking away the existing mechanisms
available to farmers, new avenues were provided for trade of their produce.
Besides, farmers were free to select the avenues of their choice where they can
get more prices for their produce without any compulsion,” he added.