Remove 'flaws' in new farm legislations, says Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

There is a need to do away with "lacunas" in the Centres new farm laws, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday and maintained that suggestions made by peasant bodies will be considered before the state decides its policy on the contentious issue.

The CM said his government was not against the Centre, but it can not support these laws blindly.

According to an official statement, Thackeray made the remarks during a meeting with representatives of farmer organisations called to discuss the three laws related to the agriculture sector whose passage in Parliament last month triggered protests in part of the country.

Thackeray said all should come together in the interest of farmers irrespective of party affiliation, the statement said.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Ministers Balasaheb Thorat, Ashok Chavan, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil and others.

Parliament had passed The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 during the Monsoon Session and the president later granted his assent for them.

The Congress and the NCP, constituents of the Shiv Sena-led state government, have already opposed the new laws.

The Maharashtra government had on September 30 decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee to take a decision on the implementation of the new farm sector laws.

The sub-committee will hold talks with representatives of farmer organisations and suitable amendments will be made to the laws.

We are not against the Centre. But we also don't want to support the laws blindly. There is a need to remove the lacunas in the laws, the statement quoted Thackeray as saying at the meeting.

The chief minister said there was a need (on the Centre's part) to take into confidence farmer organisations before enacting the laws.

We are not opposed to development or reforms. But there was a need to share experiences of implementation of earlier different farmer-related laws, he said.

The chief minister also called for assessing why farmers commit suicides despite green revolution in the country and added it is required to make time-to-time improvements in laws to ensure peasants are happy.

A decision about (implementation of) the laws in the state will be taken after considering all the views expressed by representatives of farmer bodies, Thackeray said.