Indian Parliament passes bill to repeal contentious farm laws

Farmers across the country have protested against the three laws for a year

Gurmeet Kaur, 75, and her daughter-in-law Sukhvir Kaur, 40, at their home in Rauni village in district Ludhiana in Punjab. Gurmeet’s son Balwinder Singh has been taking part in protests in New Delhi against India's farm laws. All photos: Taniya Dutta for The National

Amandeep Kaur, 38, wakes up at 4am every day to care of the family's livestock and crops in Rauni village while her husband takes part in protests in New Delhi.

Balbir Singh, 65, sits outside his home with his wife Kulwant Kaur during his first visit home after 48 days taking part in the demonstrations.

Balbir Singh plays with his dog, Jacky, after more than six weeks away from home.

Sukhvir Kaur, 40, relies on help from her husband’s friend Balwinder Singh, right, to tend to the family farm while her husband is away.

Gurmeet Kaur, 75, has taken on the responsibility of feeding her son's livestock.

Gurmeet Kaur chops fresh fodder for the family's buffaloes in a chaff cutter.

Gurmeet Kaur with her son's friend Balwinder Singh. Neighbours and relatives have stepped in to help families of farmers who are at the protests.

Balbir Singh relaxes outside his home in Rauni village. He was in the first batch of farmers who left for Delhi on November 26, 2020 to protest against new farm laws.

Amandeep Kaur's neighbour Harvinder Kaur helps her with cooking.

Harvinder Kaur, 33, often joins in Amandeep Singh to help her in household chores, especially cooking for the family as Amandeep Singh juggles between tending to her husband's crops and livestock.

Amandeep Kaur and her neighbour Harvinder Kaur cook a seasonal dessert on a clay stove for the festival of Lohri.

Balbir Singh with his dog Jacky. He plans to return to the farmer protests after collecting fresh clothes.

Sukhvir Kaur and her mother-in-law outside the family home in Rauni village in Punjab.

Balbir Singh says he has entrusted his farm to his wife and to God while he is away protesting in New Delhi.

Gurmeet Kaur say she misses her only son, but every time Balwinder calls she encourages him to stay at the protest to fight for the farmers' cause.

India's Parliament rushed through a bill on Monday to repeal the three contentious farm laws that sparked lengthy street protests by farmers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to scrap the laws in a surprise about-turn last week following pressure from farmers who camped at the borders of the capital New Delhi.

The Farm Laws Repeal Bill 2021 was introduced by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on the first day of the winter session and was passed without any discussion in both the Houses of Parliament.

Congress party members and lawmakers gather next to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to protest against India's farm laws. EPA

The bill was tabled in the lower house, Lok Sabha, and approved within four minutes through a voice vote before being sent to the upper house, Rajya Sabha. It passed amid demands from opposition members to hold a discussion on the legislation.

India's President Ram Nath Kovind is expected to give his assent to the bill to become a law.

Opposition members in both houses protested against the bill and raised pro-farmer slogans.

Some members said the government was subverting the parliamentary processes by evading discussions on important legislation.

Last September, Parliament passed the three farm laws that mainly dealt with opening India’s agriculture sector to private companies.

It called the laws the “biggest reforms” in the history of the country, a claim contested by farmers who called them “black laws” and demanded their repeal.

Anshul Avijit, a spokesman for the Congress party, told The National that his party wanted to hold discussions on setting a minimum price that farmers would be paid for their produce.

“We wanted to discuss the MSP, which is a core issue of the farmers, and give them legal guarantees. They passed the laws without any discussion in the first place and they repealed it unilaterally without even discussing with the farmers,” he said.

“This government has been taking unilateral decisions and fundamentally subverting all forms of democracy and all parliamentary procedures."

Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party defended the hasty passage of the bill, saying the new legislation merely annulled the laws.

“There was no need for discussion as this was not an introduction of a bill but repealing of the bills already passed. There was a specific objective that did not require any debate,” R P Singh, a BJP spokesman, told The National.