Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill that seeks to deregulate food items, including cereals, pulses and onion, amid strong protests from opposition parties and also a BJP ally who dubbed the move “anti-farmer”.
Former Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, a Lok Sabha member from Ferozpur, said farmers have “misgivings and doubts” about the bill and two other legislations related to the farm sector.
“The Centre should withhold these legislations and work to address the concerns of farmers,” Badal, the Akali Dal chief, said.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have hit the streets against the bills that are under the guise of the Modi government's farm sector reforms.
P P Chaudhary (BJP) said the legislation will not only benefit farmers but also consumers and described it as a visionary step and the biggest reform in the agriculture sector.
Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy and Kalyan Banerjee also opposed the bill and accused the Centre of taking away the power of the states.
Roy claimed the legislation will benefit big traders, while the farmers would be left in the lurch.
D M Kathir Anand of the DMK also opposed the bill, while Kaushalendra Kumar of the JD(U) supported it, saying the proposed legislation will benefit farmers as they won't have to sell their agriculture produce at lower prices.
Responding to the debate, Minister of State for Consumer Affairs Raosaheb Patil Danve said the proposed amendment will encourage competition and help farmers get fair price for their produce.
Danve also rejected the Opposition's claims that the states were not consulted before promulgating the Ordinance.
“A high-power committee of chief ministers of Punjab, Odisha, Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had made recommendations to bring the legislation,” the minister said.