Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed passage of the agriculture reform bills in Rajya Sabha a watershed moment. But He again assured the protesting farmers that the Minimum Support Price system wont be touched and government purchase of their produce would continue.
A watershed moment in the history of Indian agriculture! Congratulations to our hardworking farmers on the passage of key bills in Parliament, which will ensure a complete transformation of the agriculture sector as well as empower crores of farmers, Modi said on Twitter, shortly after the bills were passed amid opposition chaos in the Upper House.
For decades, the Indian farmer was bound by various constraints and bullied by middlemen. The bills passed by Parliament liberate the farmers from such adversities. These bills will add impetus to the efforts to double income of farmers and ensure greater prosperity for them, he added.
The two contentious farm bills — Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 — were passed amid chaos in the Rajya Sabha, three days after they were cleared in the Lok Sabha.
A voice vote to pass the bills was drowned amid sloganeering by opposition members, some of who wanted the discussion to be continued on Monday, while others wanted the bills to be sent to a Select Committee. Some MPs trooped to the Well of the Upper House, while Trinamool Congress MP Derek OBrien rushed to the Chair and tore up with documents.
