India’s Prime Minister Modi to repeal controversial farm laws

“Today I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to withdraw all three agricultural laws,” Modi said in an address to the nation, adding the process will be completed in a parliamentary session later this month.Modi acknowledged the importance of farmers and the challenges they have faced. He said it was a priority issue for his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).”In this great campaign to improve the condition of the farmers, three agricultural laws were brought in the country,” Modi said. “This law was brought in with good intentions,” he continued, adding that despite its efforts, the government was unable to “make them (farmers) understand the importance of the agricultural laws.”For more than a year, Indian farmers have fought the three laws, which they said leave them open to exploitation by large corporations and could destroy their livelihoods. The laws, which were passed last September, loosened rules around the sale and pricing of produce that have protected farmers from an unregulated free market for decades.Under the previous laws, farmers had to sell their goods at auction at their state’s Agricultural Produce Market Committee, where they were guaranteed to receive at least the government-agreed minimum price. There were restrictions on who could buy, and prices were capped for essential commodities.The new laws dismantled this structure, instead allowing farmers to sell their goods to anyone for any price. The government said the reforms were needed to modernize the country’s agricultural industry, but many farmers argued they would allow large corporations to drive prices down.In mid-January, India’s Supreme Court temporarily suspended the laws. But Modi failed to quell the protests, with some farmers vowing not to leave until the laws were fully repealed.