Jaipur:Terming the three recently introduced agriculture sector-related bills as 'anti-farmer', former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Wednesday demanded that the central government should carry out extensive consultations with political parties, farmers' organisations, traders and agriculture experts and consider amending them.
The government introduced the Farmers' Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on Monday to replace ordinances promulgated earlier.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 which seeks to deregulate food items, including cereals, pulses and onion.
Attacking the Centre over the issue, Pilot accused the government of 'betraying' the farmers and said that the three ordinances, for which bills have been introduced, were 'anti-farmer' and 'anti-agriculture'.
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The laws were introduced through ordinances during the pandemic even though there was no urgency, the Congress leader said in a statement.
He said despite the issue being a state subject, neither the states nor political parties or agricultural organisations were consulted by the Centre.
Alleging that the Modi government was 'anti-farmer' from the beginning, he said that an attempt was also made to end the compensation law for farmers through an ordinance, but the Congress under Rahul Gandhi's leadership forced them to back down.