Maharashtra govt will amend agricultural laws to protect interests of farmers, says minister Balasaheb Thorat

"The three black agricultural laws introduced by the Central government are anti-farmer, anti-commercial, so the Maharashtra government will introduce an agriculture reform bill that protects the interests of farmers. The bill will be introduced in the coming monsoon session", said Maharashtra Revenue Minister and Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat in Mumbai today after meeting Sharad Pawar.

Along with Revenue Minister Thorat, Co-operation Minister Balasaheb Patil, Agriculture Minister Dadaji Bhuse, Minister of State for Agriculture and Co-operation Dr Vishwajit Kadam's delegation had an hour-long discussion with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar on the state's agriculture reform bill.

"The black agricultural laws introduced by the Central government in the name of reform are devastating to the farmers. Any trader can buy a farmer's goods on a simple PAN card. Who will take responsibility if there is fraud in this? All these things have been taken into consideration by our government while drafting the Agricultural Reforms Bill. Sharad Pawar ji's contribution in this field is great, for more than ten years", the minister said.

Farmers have been protesting on the borders of the national capital since November 26 last year against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

The Supreme Court had stayed their implementation in January this year.

Earlier this month, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said farmers protesting against the central farm laws at the borders of the national capital will not leave Delhi at any cost. (ANI)