Apologising to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws against which farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at the borders of Delhi for nearly a year.

In an address to the nation, the Prime Minister said, “Main aaj deshavaasiyon se kshama maangate hue, sachche man se aur pavitr hraday se kahana chaahata hoon ki shaayad hamaaree tapasya mein hee koee kamee rahee hogee jisake kaaran diye ke prakaash jaisa saty kuchh kisaan bhaiyon ko ham samajha nahin pae. aaj Guru Nanak Dev ji ka pavitra Prakash Parv hai. yah samay kisee ko bhee dosh dene ka nahin hai (Today, while apologising to the countrymen, I want to say with a sincere and pure heart that perhaps there must have been some deficiency in our efforts, due to which we could not explain the truth like the light of the lamp to some farmers).”

The Prime Minister chose the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti to announce the repeal of the three laws, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020.

“Today is the holy festival of light of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. This is not the time to blame anyone,” PM Modi said.

“Aaj main aapako, poore desh ko, ye bataane aaya hoon ki hamane teenon krishi kaanoonon ko vaapas lene ka nirnay liya hai. Is maheene ke ant mein shuroo hone ja rahe sansad satr mein, ham in teenon krshi kaanoonon ko repleal karane kee sanvaidhaanik prakriya ko poora kar denge (Today, I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws. In the ensuing Parliament session that begins later this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three farm laws.),” he said.

“Aaj main aapako, poore desh ko, ye bataane aaya hoon ki hamane teenon krishi kaanoonon ko vaapas lene ka nirnay liya hai. Is maheene ke ant mein shuroo hone ja rahe sansad satr mein, ham in teenon krshi kaanoonon ko repleal karane kee sanvaidhaanik prakriya ko poora kar denge (Today, I have come to tell you, the whole country, that we have decided to repeal all three farm laws. In the ensuing Parliament session that begins later this month, we will complete the constitutional process to repeal these three farm laws.),” he said.

Since November 26, 2020, farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi’s borders demanding the repeal of the laws. After several rounds of talks between the government and farmer unions failed to end the protests, the Supreme Court stayed the implementation of three farm laws.

PM Modi also announced the formation of a committee comprising representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists and agricultural economists to ensure decisions on various issues related to agriculture, including making the minimum support price (MSP), are more “effective and transparent”.

During its previous term, the Modi government had withdrawn a contentious ordinance which was brought to amend the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (RFCTLARR) Act, 2013­­, in view of stiff opposition during its previous term.