Repeal of farm laws must follow dropping of cases against farmers: Hooda

Shortly after the repeal of three central farm laws by Parliament, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday demanded the dropping of all cases lodged against farmers during the over year-long agitation against the legislations.

Claiming registration of more than 48,000 cases against farmers during the year-long anti farm law agitation by them, Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) president Gurnam Singh Chaduni also demanded the withdrawal of cases against farmers.

The Parliament on Monday passed The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 to annul the three farm laws against which farmers have been protesting for over a year, with its passage in the Rajya Sabha shortly after the Lok Sabha did it.

The Lower House had passed the repeal bill within minutes of its introduction.

It's better late than never, Hooda told reporters during an informal conversation with them when asked to comment on the repeal of the three laws.

Right from the start, we had been maintaining that these laws are not in the interest of farmers. Now that these laws have been repealed, the cases against farmers too should be taken back," Hooda added.

Hooda, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Haryana assembly, added that other demands of farmers, including the one for the enactment of a law for Minimum Support Price for crops, too should be enacted.

He said there should be no hesitation in giving a legal guarantee on the MSP.

Stating that farming is no longer a profitable avocation as input costs have increased manifold and returns are not that as remunerative, Hooda also said farmers need to be supported by the government in all possible manners.

He also talked of the death of over 700 farmers during the year-long agitation against these laws.

Of these deceased farmers who belonged to Haryana, the state government must accord them martyrs' status and give a job to the next of their kin, said the Congress leader.

Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) president Chaduni also demanded the dropping of cases against farmers.

Around 48,000 cases were registered in Haryana against the farmers and they should be taken back, Chaduni demanded.

Over 700 farmers lost their lives. The next of their kin too should be given compensation, he added.

Asked about their future course after the repeal of farm laws, Chaduni said, We want to say that if the government wants to resolve all our issues with a clear intent, it should also decide on other demands including one for giving a legal guarantee on MSP so that farmers can return to their homes.

Hooda, meanwhile, also demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into the alleged scam in the recruitment of dental surgeons in Haryana.

The former chief minister raised the demand when asked to comment on the alleged scam.

The scandal exposes the state government's hollow claim of giving jobs on merit and in a transparent manner. Now, the cat is out of the bag, he added.

I have been saying that jobs are on sale. And the latest incident is not an isolated case, Hooda alleged.

Hooda said he has postponed the third leg of his ''Vipaksh Aapke Samaksh'' outreach programme because of the slated Congress party's rally in Delhi next month.

The outreach programme had started from Karnal in October and later another event was held in Jind under the programme.

The third event in this series was scheduled to be held on December 11 in Nuh but the Congress party is going to hold a big rally in Delhi on December 12. So, we postponed our programme to December 26, he said.