Rajya Sabha passes 2 farm bills amid ruckus by opposition MPs

Amid protests by the opposition, Rajya Sabha passed two out of the three contentious farm bills on Sunday. The controversial bills have triggered farmer protests across the country.

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two contentious farm bills, which have triggered protests by farmers at several places, amid uproar by opposition members. Some lawmakers even staged a walkout in protest.

The opposition also demanded that the Bills be sent to the Select committee of the Upper House but it was not accepted by the government.

Earlier, the House witnessed unruly scenes when TMC MP Derek O'Brien went near the Chair and tried to snatch a mike while citing from the rule book. When his objections were overruled, an aggressive Derek O'Brien tore the rule book by calling the Bills "Kala Kanoon" or black laws, leading to adjournment of the House for a brief period.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad demanded that discussion on the Bills be continued on Monday. "To decide this, we should go by the consensus among the members, not by the numbers of the ruling party," Azad said.

The opposition, as well as BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal, termed the Bills an "anti-farmers" move by the Centre, with some staging a walkout.

The two bills - Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 - were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The House also rejected the demand of several opposition parties to send the two bills to a Rajya Sabha Select Committee for greater scrutiny.

These bills will now be sent to the President of India for assent.

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.

The second bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, provides for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services.

PTI/IANS