Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday claimed that the Centre is preparing to implement the three revoked farm laws “through the backdoor”, terming them “policies”.

In a social media post, he alleged that the Union government had sent copies of these new “policies” to all state governments for their views.

The Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab government criticised the newly introduced draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing, labelling it an attempt to reintroduce the three contentious farm laws that were revoked in November 2021 after a year-long protest by farmers, according to PTI.

The draft policy says it aims “to build a vibrant marketing ecosystem in the country wherein farmers of all categories find a market of their choice to realise best price for their produce”.

It was uploaded by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare on its website on November 25, inviting comments from stakeholders within 15 days.

Critics, including farm leaders, the Punjab government and other Opposition leaders alleged similarities between the draft policy and the three revoked farm laws.

Critics have pointed out similarities between the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act – one of the revoked laws – and the new framework, highlighting that both spoke about farmers selling their produce outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committee which is a government regulated market for wholesale selling of agricultural products, notes The Indian Express.

Additionally, the draft policy’s focus on private investment and infrastructure development has been criticised for being similar to the second farm law, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, which promoted contract farming and privatisation.

Crucially, the new draft policy makes no mention of a legally guaranteed minimum support price for agricultural commodities.

The former Delhi chief minister in his post added that the Bharatiya Janata Party would be held responsible “if something happens” to protesting farmers in Punjab.

Farmers have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri, on the inter-state border between Haryana and Punjab, in protest since February. They are demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support prices from the Central government.

A minimum support price is the cost at which the government procures agricultural commodities from farmers.

Along with the legal guarantee, they have also been demanding the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission’s wider recommendations for agricultural reform. The farmers have alleged that the Centre has not taken steps to address their demands, claiming that no talks have been held since February 18.

Among those protesting is 70-year-old ailing farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since November 26.

“The BJP government is not even talking to the farmers,” Kejriwal said in his post. “Why is the BJP so arrogant that it does not even talk to anyone?”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Thursday called out the Punjab government for opposing any reconciliation with farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.