Punjab Agriculture Minister asks Centre to Compensate Families of Farmers

CHANDIGARH:
Punjab Agriculture Minister Randeep Singh Nabha on Friday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for announcing the repeal of the three agricultural laws but asked the Centre to compensate the families of the farmers who passed away during the nearly year-long protest.

“I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi who listened to the long outstanding demand of the farmers and took the decision. I also ask the Union government to compensate the families of farmers who passed away during the protest,” he told the media.

In an address to the nation earlier in the day, Modi announced the repeal of the farm laws against which farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at the borders of Delhi for nearly a year.

The three farm laws are — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs). Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act.