The three recently passed Farmers’ Bills have been widely protested against in different parts of the country and most importantly in Punjab and Haryana, where famers have been overtly showing their anger and discontent with the passage of the bills. It is in this context that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi went ahead and accused the government at the Centre of passing the bills at a time when it was difficult for people to democratically participate in the decision making process due to the ongoing pandemic situation.
While addressing the second in his rally series in Patiala, Rahul Gandhi addressed a large crowd and said that the new laws were being brought in believing that none of the faming communities or other groups involved in the agrarian economy that have been impacted by the recently passed bills will come out into the streets due to the fear of the ongoing pandemic. Rahul Gandhi stated, “However, I assure the Modi government that farmers are already on roads and agitating. The whole idea to mislead the nation on farm ordinances has failed.”
In his speech in Punjab, he also made a reference to the standoff with China at the Galwan Valley. He also accused the Centre of only making policies keeping the rich people of the country in mind and of lying to the people of India. He said, “ Modi government is busy to protect interests of only few individuals. It forgets that the Indian economy is based on the farmers and small and marginal traders and poor labourers.”
He said that he and his party would continue to stand with the poorest of people and would not allow the government to carry out with their strategies to ‘mislead’ the people of the country. CM of Punjab Amarinder Singh has also vehemently criticised the central government’s policies and has asked all opposition parties to come forward and support the fight against what has been seen as controversial agrarian bills.
He said that due to these bills the farming sector in the country would only suffer more and the farming community would have to undergo severe losses because large scale corporates would be brought into the picture. He also said, “The Public Distribution System which is stocked to feed the poor families in the country and ensures that the poor are fed- also faces a threat. Big companies will buy produce and will not be able to full the PDS at the subsidised rates and the loss will be of not only the farmers but also of the poor across the country.”
Farmers in several parts of the country have been holding protests against the recently passed farm bills.
These protests have been particularly strong in states like Punjab which has been seeing regular agitations ever since it was announced.
One of the primary concerns of the farmers is regarding the impact that the new laws would have on the structure of the MSP and the assertion of the new laws towards the abolishment or the minimisation of the MSP framework. The concerns that are being put forward by the farmers include the fear that these new laws would be exploitative and unfair for the farming sector.
