Rajya Sabha Passes Two Agriculture Sector Reform Bills

Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed the Farmers’ and Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, amid protests by Opposition MPs.

The Bills were passed by voice vote in the Upper House. Both of these Bills were passed by the Lower House with a voice vote a couple of days back.

Opposition MPs came in the well of the House and raised slogans against the bills. Soon after passage of these Bills, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 9 am on Monday.

Earlier today, the Bills were moved by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar moved in the Rajya Sabha.

Moving the Bills, the Minister said, “The two Bills are historic and will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. They will be able to freely trade their produce anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these Bills are not related to Minimum Support Price.”

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 permits the electronic trading of farmers’ produce and allows the setting up transaction platforms for facilitating direct online buying and selling of farm products.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 provides for a farming agreement prior to the production or rearing of any farm produce. A guaranteed price to be paid for the purchase of farming produce will be mentioned in such agreements. (ANI)