NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, SEP 20
The Rajya Sabha on Sunday passed two farm bills, which farmers have been protesting against, amid a ruckus as opposition members shouted slogans and trooped into the well of the House by voice vote.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, part of the broader farm liberalisation plan, could not be taken up and the House was adjourned.
Massive ruckus in Rajya Sabha over #FarmBills. @patelanandk with more details
LIVE : https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/DW66JR1U0N— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) September 20, 2020
Members of the Trinamool, including Derek O’Brien, and other opposition members had earlier climbed the chairperson’s podium after their demand for voting on motion to send the farm bills to select panel was not considered. They also showed the rule book to the chairperson Harivansh during the debate on the contentious farm bills. The upper house was adjourned for a short while.
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Several members, including O’Brien, the CPI’s KK Ragesh, Trichy Siva of the DMK and Congress’ KC Venugopal, moved resolutions asking for the two bills to be sent a select committee of the House for consideration before they are taken up for passage.
Earlier, the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar moved three crucial farm bills in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday. The bills include the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.
“The two bills are historic and will bring a change in the lives of the farmers. The farmers will be able to freely trade their produce anywhere in the country. I want to assure the farmers that these bills are not related to Minimum Support Price (MSP),” Tomar said in the Rajya Sabha.
Agriculturists, who have been agitating against the bills passed in the Lok Sabha earlier, said they are “anti-farmer” and fear they will end the mandi system. The Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Trinamool Congress are among the partied which have opposed the bills.
