New Delhi: After the announcement of repealing of the three farm laws by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Home Minister DW Patil said that if this decision was taken earlier a lot more innocent lives of farmers would have been spared.
"Govt should've initiated dialogues earlier but that didn't happen, farmers were not heard. They had to sit down on the streets. They got their demand fulfilled today. It's their victory," Patil said.
PM Modi had said that the three agrarian laws will be scrapped by the government in the upcoming winter session.
The decision to scrap the farm laws came five months before the five states including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh's assembly elections were scheduled to be conducted.
"Today is the holy festival of Guru Nanak Dev. This is not the time to blame anyone. Today I have come to inform the whole country that it has been decided to withdraw three agricultural laws," PM Modi said during the address.
Earlier this month, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, while giving an ultimatum to the Union government said that protest will be escalated if the centre doesn't scrap the three farm laws till November 26, 2021. However, with the recent announcement by PM Modi, BKU leader Rakesh Tikatit, while extending the deadline to the Centre, on his official Twitter handle writes, "The protest will not be withdrawn immediately, we will wait for the day when the farm laws are repealed in Parliament. Along with MSP, the government should talk to farmers on other issues too."
Since November last year, farmers mostly from Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh have been demanding that 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.