Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister and Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Supremo Naveen Patnaik on Friday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to withdraw all three agricultural laws.
Mr.Modi announced that the constitutional process to repeal the three agricultural laws will be completed in the winter session of the Parliament session starting later this month.
Taking to Twitter, Mr.Patnaik said ‘’welcome PM@narendramodi Ji’s decision to repeal all 3 #farm laws, in the best interests of the country and its farmers.’’
He told the farmers that their farms and families have been waiting for long and they will be happy to welcome you back. Further, the Chief Minister said his party would continue to stand with the farmers.
Earlier when the issue emerged as a burning topic in the country, Mr.Patnaik had said, “I would like to assure farmers that their welfare will be paramount in any of our interventions.”
Though the BJD supported many Bills, including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill, it had opposed certain provisions of the farm laws.
The party demanded that the Bills be sent to the Select Committee as the concerns of the small and marginal farmers on MSP have not been addressed properly. The governing party had also demanded implementation of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee recommendations for the improvement of the agriculture sector.
The Congress too welcomed the decision. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) in-charge, A Chhellakumar said, “It is a victory of our party and all the credit goes to lakhs of farmers who had been staging sit-in since the announcement. Our party under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi had conducted rallies and programmes in protest against the farm laws across the nation.”
The BJP initially refused to consider the suggestions of the parties who were opposing the laws. However, as elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are nearing, the Centre has taken this decision, he said.
The Central Government promulgated three ordinances on 5 June, 2020– the Farmers Produce Trade and commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) ordinance,2020, the farmers (empowerment and Protection) agreement on price assurance and farms services ordinance,2020 and the essential commodities (Amendment)ordinance,2020 to facilitate barrier-free trade of farmers produce outside the markets notified under various state APMC laws.
All three laws were passed by Parliament in September and received Presidential assent on 27 September.
The Supreme Court, however, stayed the implementation of three farm laws in January 2021. But the farmers across the country have been protesting against these laws for about a year demanding repeal of the three farm laws.