New Delhi [India] : Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday said that the Centre should have repealed the three farm laws a year ago and urged the government to apologize to farmers. This comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day announced the repeal of the three Central farm laws. “The central government should have taken this decision a year ago. The farmers struggled for a year protesting on the roads in winter, rain, and even in times of COVID-19 pandemic and dengue outbreak. The government should apologize for this. The government should also apologize to families of farmers who died during the protests. The government should also apologize for remarks on farmers calling them terrorists, Khalistanis,” Sisodia told ANI. Taking to Twitter, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader congratulated the farmers on the success of their movement. “Congratulations to the farmers and the farmers’ movement. Your one year long non-violent movement forced the autocratic government to bow down. The central government had to finally bow before the hundreds of farmers who lost their lives,” he wrote in Hindi. Farmers have been protesting against the government’s three farm laws since they were passed by the Centre in 2020. 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.
