Congress takes a dig as Twitter locks Ravi Shankar Prasad's account; adds farm laws lie

Taking jibe at the Central Government's three farm laws, Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill compared the Union IT & Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Twitter account lock with the farmer's protest. Shergill stated that losing access to his Twitter account for an hour made the Law Minister so agitated then what about those farmers who have been denied access to their MSP account for a lifetime because of the Centre's black farm laws. Congress leader's statement came after Ravi Shankar Prasad was denied access to his Twitter account on Friday morning for nearly an hour. Shergill, a lawyer, has also spread an untruth regarding MSP and the farm laws, which the Prime Minister has unequivocally said 'have existed, exist now and will continue to exist.'

Jaiveer Shergill on Farm laws

"Law Minister perturbed over being denied access to his Twitter account for 1 hour (per media reports) - Imagine the plight of farmers who have been denied access to their MSP account for lifetime by Law Ministry via 3 black farm laws!", stated Congress leader Shergill

Ravi Shankar Prasad's Twitter account locked for an hour

Amid the ongoing tussle over the IT rules, Union IT & Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was denied access to his Twitter account on Friday morning for nearly an hour. Later the San Fransico-based micro-blogging itself issued a warning and unlocked the account.  In the seemingly automated message that the Minister's team saw on attempting to access his account, Twitter had cited violations based on a United States laws over the Union Minister posting clips of his TV interviews criticizing the site for not complying with India's new IT rules which have come into effect since May 26 this year. As per sources, 3 interviews, including one with Republic Media Network, were adjudged by Twitter to be violative of the US law. While Ravi Shankar Prasad's account was open for public viewing, Twitter denied the Union Minister from making any tweets or other activities. 

Impasse over the farm laws

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday expressed willingness for talks over the agrarian laws amid 7 months since the start of the farmers' protest. The talks between the Union government and the farmers' unions were at a standstill as the farm associations refused to agree to the Centre's proposal for suspending the implementation of the aforesaid legislation for one and a half years. The divide between the two sides further exacerbated on January 26 after the farmers' tractor rally turned violent resulting in 510 Delhi police personnel getting injured and extensive damage to public property. While the Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the farm laws, a committee appointed by the apex court submitted its report pertaining to the legislation in a sealed cover on March 19. The three farm laws directed by the government are: 

• The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020- It aims at freeing the farmers from the constraints of the state Agriculture Produce Market Committees whereby they would be able to sell their produce anywhere. Meanwhile.
• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020- It protects and empowers farmers to engage with processors, wholesalers, large retailers, exporters for farm services. 
• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020- It specifies that the supply of foodstuffs including cereals, pulses, potatoes, edible oilseeds, and oils shall be regulated only under exceptional circumstances.

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