Union Cabinet may clear bill to repeal agriculture laws on Wednesday: Report

New Delhi: News agency PTI quoted government sources as saying that the Union Cabinet may take for approval the bills to withdraw three agricultural laws on Wednesday, 24 November.

This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise announcement on Friday, where he said the government was going to withdraw the controversial agriculture laws in the interest of the country.

read also , SKM writes open letter to PM Modi, will meet on November 27 to decide future course of action

Government sources told PTI that the Union Cabinet is likely to take for approval the bills to withdraw three agriculture laws on Wednesday.

After this these bills will be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament.

The winter session of Parliament is going to start from November 29.

After the announcement of the Prime Minister, the government will bring a bill in the Parliament to withdraw the three agriculture laws.

Hundreds of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year, demanding the government repeal three agriculture laws – Farmer Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) ) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

Apart from repeal of agricultural laws, legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been one of the major demands of the farmers.

“I have come to inform you that we have decided to repeal three agriculture laws. In the upcoming Parliament session that begins later this month, we will complete the constitutional process of repeal of three agricultural laws,” PM Modi had said while addressing the nation on the occasion of Gurupurab.

Demanding the withdrawal of the laws, farmers who have been protesting at three places along Delhi’s borders since November last year, have said they will stand till Parliament repeals them.

Meanwhile, Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a union of various farmers’ organisations, has said that it will hold another meeting on November 27 to decide the future course of action, while the plan to march by farmers to Parliament on November 29 will go ahead as scheduled. Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal said this on Sunday.

Addressing a press conference at Singhu border after the core-committee meeting, Rajewal said, “We discussed repeal of agricultural laws. After that some decisions were taken. The pre-scheduled programs of SKM will continue as is. On November 22, Kisan Panchayat in Lucknow, on November 26, a meeting will be held on all the borders and on November 29, a march will be taken to the Parliament.

Farmer leaders have said that until the central government formally repeals these laws in Parliament, the protesters will remain in the border areas of Delhi. He has also indicated that his agitation for the withdrawal of the MSP’s statutory guarantee and the Electricity Amendment Bill will continue.

(with agency input)

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