'Repeal of farm laws won't end farm agitation, won't help BJP politically'

The governments decision to repeal three central farm laws is very unfortunate as this political move will not end the farmers agitation and will not help the BJP in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab a key member of the Supreme Courtappointed panel on the contentious agrilaws said on FridayShetkari Sanghatana President Anil J Ghanwat said the agitators had planned the protest till the upcoming assembly elections The Centre did not succumb when the protest was at its peak and now it has gone down to their kneesThe government should have adopted other policies to address the issue rather than repealing them In fact the laws could have survived had the government discussed them properly during the passage in Parliament and even agreed to refer to a parliamentary panel he told PTIIn a major move Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Friday morning announced repealing of the three central farm lawsIts been over a year now that farmers are protesting at Delhi border against the three central farm laws Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 The Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act and The Essential Commodities Amendment ActAlso read After year of protests 700plus dead farmers PM Modi rolls back farm lawsExpressing unhappiness over the governments decision Ghanwat said this decision wont end the agitation too Because their demand to make minimum support price MSP legal will be there And this decision wont help the BJP politically eitherHe said this is a very unfortunate decision Farmers were given some freedom but now they will be exploited as they have been exploited since independence or since British ruleUnder the new farm laws farmers were for the first time given some sort of independence in marketing but now they have to face restrictions like export ban and stock limits that were used to exploit the farmers to keep the farm produce rate low he saidGhanwat said the government should have used some other policies to manage the agitation But now it has succumbed to the pressure of the agitators We dont hope anything good will happen nowStating that it was a political decision the panel member said they the Centre did not succumb when the agitation was at its peak But now they have gone down to their knees because they want to win elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab To get their party elected once again in UP they have decided to step back This is not goodActually agitators had designed the agitation to prolong till the upcoming assembly elections he saidOn the status quo of some provisions of the new laws that are already being implemented Ghanwat said the first two laws are being implemented in most of the statesFor example selling agri produce outside the APMC This law is being implemented in 21 states now Agriculture is a state subject and it is up to states to continue with the provision or not he addedAccording to Ashok Gulati agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices CACP The government has decidedto repeal the laws and it is its wish The panel has submitted its report to the Supreme Court The SC may have advised the government or whatever to repeal It is good for farmers They can sit back and relax nowThe upcoming polls were one of major considerations for repealing the farm laws he saidBesides Ghanwat and Gulati agricultural economist Pramod Joshi is the third member of the SCappointed committee that was formed after the apex court stayed the implementation of the three farm lawsThe committee submitted its report to the apex court on March 19 after studying the laws and consultation with the stakeholders The report has not yet been made publicThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever