Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021

The Parliament has passed the Agriculture Laws Repeal Bill, 2021. The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha approved it on the first day of the winter session. The Bill related to the withdrawal of all three Agriculture Bills was introduced by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in the Lok Sabha which was passed without any discussion.

Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 was passed with the aim of repealing the three farm laws namely,

• Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020
• Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020
• Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
• The bill also seeks to amend the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
• It was introduced and passed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on November 19, to repeal the three laws in light if ongoing farmers’ protests against these laws.

Sub-section 1A of 3 of the Essential Commodities Act

• Central government had inserted sub-section (1A) in section 3 of the Essential Commodity Act, 1955.
• This provision empowers the government to control production, supply and distribution, etc of essential commodities.
• It provides a mechanism to regulate supply of foodstuffs like pulses, cereals, potato, onions, oils and edible oilseeds under “extraordinary circumstances” like famine, war, extraordinary price rise and natural calamity.