Modi moves ahead with laws to appease farmers and end protests

India's farmers are worried that a government price guarantee scheme could be dropped

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Wednesday approved a bill to roll back three contentious farm laws that have triggered the country's longest street protests by farmers.

The union cabinet, the supreme decision-making body in India - headed by Mr Modi - met in New Delhi to pass the draft bill that will be tabled in parliament next week as the government moves to annul the farm laws.

The approval follows Mr Modi's surprise public assurance on Friday that the contentious legislation will be recalled. He said the government had failed to convince some farmers about its benefits.

The laws, currently in abeyance following a Supreme Court order, deal with the sale of produce in the free market, contract farming and deregulating food commodities from government control.

But farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, the "breadbaskets" of India, launched stiff resistance to the proposed new rules, calling them "black laws" amid fears that they would benefit big businesses and leave small farmers at their mercy.

Farmers in Amritsar celebrate after India's prime minister announced the decision to repeal three agricultural reform laws that sparked more than a year of protests across the country. AFP

Farmers celebrate in Ghaziabad on November 19, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government will withdraw the laws, which were met with year-long demonstrations by tens of thousands of farmers who said the laws would ruin their livelihoods. AFP

Ghaziabad farmers light firecrackers in celebration of the laws being repealed. AFP

Farmers in Ghaziabad light firecrackers to celebrate. AFP

A man distributes sweets to celebrate news of the repeal of farm laws they were protesting against, in Ghazipur, on the outskirts of New Delhi on November 19, 2021. AP Photo

Farmers share sweets to celebrate news of the repeal. The drawn-out demonstrations posed one of the biggest political challenges to Narendra Modi, who swept the polls for the second time in 2019. AP Photo

Millions of farmers have launched a rolling year-long protest, blocking three major highways approaching the capital New Delhi since last November. Protests in many areas have continued, even after violent police crackdowns.

“We fulfilled the formalities and worked on the process within five days of the announcement by the prime minister,” India's Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters.

"In the upcoming winter session, it will be our priority,” Mr Thakur said. The parliamentary session starts on November 29.

Mr Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had vigorously pushed the bills last September, saying they were "historic" and the "biggest reforms" in the agriculture sector.

Mr Modi last week appealed to the farmers to return to their homes after his government backed down but farmer unions have warned that the protests will continue until legislation guarantees minimum prices.

The minimum support price (MSP) — helps farmers to sell their produce above the benchmark rates fixed by the government.

Farming unions have also called for a march to parliament on November 29, when the new bill is likely to be tabled.