Repeal announcement surprises Tomar, Agri Ministry officials

New Delhi: Though the decision to announce the withdrawal of all three controversial farm laws by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has won the hearts of the farming community, but it has come as a big surprise for Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and officials of the ministry. The announcement has come at a time when the agriculture minister and his officials, who were tasked to redress the grievances of farmers, were focusing on increasing the non-farm income of farmers by putting the farmers' protest issue in cold storage.

The ministry was in the view of giving a big push to the rural economy by promoting non-farming activities such as sericulture, dairy farming, fisheries, horticulture, etc as incomes from traditional crop production have dropped and wages have become the mainstay for rural households.

As per sources, the ministry was not in the "direct picture" for a long time and all the decisions regarding addressing the farmers' issue were being taken by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Even officials of the agriculture ministry were also not "permitted" to discuss the contentious issue during their internal meetings, the sources said.

However, praising the PM for withdrawing all three farms, Union Agriculture Minister said, "The prime minister had brought the three bills that were passed by the Parliament. They would have benefited farmers. The prime minister's clear intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers. But I am pained that we failed to explain benefits to some farmers of the nation."

The three farm laws that sparked over a year of protests and will now be repealed are –the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.