Centre agrees with Pawar's suggestion to 'amend, not scrap' farm laws

New Delhi, July 02: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on welcomed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief's Sharad Pawar's recent remarks on the new farm laws.

In a U-turn, Pawar suggested that the new farm laws must not be totally scrapped but the certain amendments should be done. He said that parts of contention by farming community could be amended instead of scrapping three laws.

"I welcome this statement of the former agriculture minister. I'd like to tell him that the Central government agrees with him. We have discussed this with the farmer union eleven times," Tomar told ANI today.

"The central government hopes this matter will be resolved through discussions and this agitation ends and all farmers return to their homes. The government of India is willing to reconsider with an open mind the issues that seem problematic."

"Various schemes were introduced to benefit them. The change in farm laws was brought based on the recommendation of the Swaminathan Committee report that was submitted in 2006 to the UPA government that just sat over it without any apparent action" he pointed out.

In February this year, Pawar's party had demanded a repeal of the three contentious agri-marketing laws.

Farmers have been camping at Delhi''s borders since November 2020 demanding repeal of three farm laws.

The Farmers'' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers'' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.