Kerala Assembly Scraps Farm Laws; Resolution Passed Unanimously

The legislation, raised fear over the effects of the prolonged commotion in the agricultural sector said, “Kerala could not bear the impact of such a situation", particularly amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

The lone member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) voted for the resolution

Farm Laws: The Legislative Assembly of Kerala on Thursday, without opposition passed a resolution to scrap the three contentious farm laws that were passed by the Union Government in September earlier this year. The legislation, raised fear over the effects of the prolonged commotion in the agricultural sector said, “Kerala could not bear the impact of such a situation", particularly amid the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic. It is also worth mentioning that even the lone member of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) voted for the resolution, the 140-seat state assembly unanimously voted for the legislation. Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala while tabling the bill said, “There should be a system where agricultural products are procured by the Central government and distributed to the needy at fair prices. Instead, it has allowed corporates to take over the trade in agricultural products. The Centre is shirking its responsibility of providing fair prices to farmers.” "If these protests continue, it will affect Kerala badly. If agriculture produce stops coming to a consumer state like Kerala, the state will be pushed towards hunger," he said. The CM also said that the farmers are worried about losing the current support price that could make them weak in negotiating with the corporate entities. The CM urged the Union Government to withdraw the new laws and requested to accept farmer’s demands. "Considering all this, the Kerala Legislative Assembly is requesting the Central government to cancel these three farm laws and accept the demands by farmers," Vijayan said, referring to their ongoing protest as "historic". APMC Not Followed In Kerala Restoration of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), which is one of the key demands of the protesting farmers, is not followed in Kerala which is primarily aimed at ensuring farmers' financial security. The state has an alternative system involving horticorp outlets and vegetable and fruit-promotion councils. O Rajagopal, lone BJP MLA in the state said, "I did not vote...I support this resolution. We have certain differences over some arguments that they have put forward...I support the substance of the resolution.” KC Joseph, senior Congress leader, and former minister targeting Prime Minister Modi, said that he should have called the farmers directly. "The Prime Minister speaks on TV and casts aspersions on farmers. He should have called the farmers and spoken to them. I salute our farmers," he said. The opposition moved three minor amendments to the resolution, of which one was accommodated by the government. Arif Khan, Governor of the state, saying CM had not addressed the question raised by him on the nature of emergency warranting the brief session, earlier refused to call a special session on December 23 to discuss the contentious laws. The nod from the Governor came after the state cabinet, met him on December 24.