Punjab chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday presented in Vidhan Sabha a draft resolution rejecting the Centre’s Farm Laws and the proposed Electricity Amendment Bill.
The draft resolution seeks annulment of the Farm Laws and the proposed Electricity Bill, as well as promulgation of “a fresh ordinance making the procurement of food grains on the Minimum Support Price a statutory right of the farmers and continue with procurement by Government of India through FCI and other such agencies.”
The CM said the Bills being presented today would form the basis of the state’s legal battle ahead and, hence, needed to be thoroughly vetted before presentation.
The draft resolution expresses the deep regret of the State Legislative Assembly over the “callous and inconsiderate attitude of the Government of India in attending to the concerns of the farming community on recent allegedly farm legislation enacted by them.” It read that the Assembly is constrained to unanimously reject the three (Farm) legislations and the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020.
“These three legislations along with the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020 are clearly against the interests of farmers and landless workers, and time-tested agriculture marketing system established not only in Punjab but also in original green revolution areas of Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP,” it said, adding that the Government of India had clearly enacted trade legislations and not farm legislations.
Further, said the draft resolution, these laws are also against the Constitution of India (Entry 14 List-II), which comprises agriculture as a subject of the State. These legislations are a direct attack, and use of subterfuge to encroach upon the functions and the powers of the States, as enshrined in the country’s Constitution, said the draft resolution, read out by the Speaker.
