Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the three farm laws were brought in for the benefit of farmers but were later withdrawn in the interests of the country. In an interview to news agency ANI, Modi said he had always worked for the benefit of farmers and they always supported him.
“The farm laws were brought in for the benefit of farmers, but have now been withdrawn in the interest of the nation. I don't think it needs to be explained anymore. Future events will make it clear why these steps were necessary," he said.
Modi said he was open to dialogue with farmers, saying dialogue and discussion are the basis of democracy.
"In a democracy, it is the primary duty of public representatives to engage in dialogue with the people of the country. Our government has always engaged in these discussions and we are not in favour of stopping them," the prime minister told the news agency.
His remarks came a day ahead of the first phase of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh where the Bharatiya Janata Party led by Yogi Adityanath looks to retain power.
Modi further said that he believes that the common citizen of this country holds a wealth of knowledge and the government wants to work on feedback received from them.
The three farm laws were passed by Parliament in September 2020 with an objective to bring reforms in the agriculture sector, especially marketing of farm produce.
However, after year-long protests by thousands of farmers mainly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on the borders of Delhi, the government in December 2021 notified a legislation to repeal the three laws.
The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act was aimed at giving freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside the mandis.
The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act was to provide cultivators the right to enter into a contract with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters, or large retailers for the sale of future farming produce at a pre-agreed price.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act was implemented to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion, and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and also do away with the imposition of stock holding limits on such items, except under 'extraordinary circumstances'.