‘Dark day for democracy, farmers’: SAD’s Sukhbir Singh Badal after President’s nod to farm bills

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal said on Sunday President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent to the three contentious farm bills marked a ‘dark day for democracy and farmers’.

“Extremely sad that @rashtrapatibhvn refused to heed farmers & Punjabis’ cries & has signed #FarmBills and J&K bill excluding #Punjabi as official language. Hopes that President will act as nation’s conscience & return Bills to Parliament dashed. Dark day for democracy & farmers,” Badal tweeted. 

The SAD had on Saturday snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre to protest the bills.

Also read: President Kovind gives his nod to all 3 farm bills, government notifies them

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, seeks to give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) market yards.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, will give farmers the right to enter into a contract with agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters, or large retailers for the sale of future farming produce at a pre-agreed price.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020, will remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion, and potato from the list of essential commodities and will do away with the imposition of stock holding limits.