Updated: September 25, 2020 7:43:58 am
Farmers in Punjab have been protesting against the agricultural laws. (Proceedings)
WITH THE SAD Opposition raising the stakes with the resignation of Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the Union Cabinet on Center Farm Laws Amid Farmer Protests, Congress-run Punjab is “seriously contemplating” a move to amend its APMC Act and declare the entire state as Principal Mandi Yard, according to have heard of The Indian Express.
The sources said the government, which is under “tremendous political pressure,” believes doing so will circumvent the provisions of the 2020 Trade in Agricultural Products and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, which was passed in Parliament.
The Mandi Shipyards declaration ensures that any acquisition outside their purview is considered illegal, farmers do not get a lower price than the MSP, and the state receives their Mandi fee.
Sources said the government has yet to make a final decision after Chief Minister Amarinder Singh requested a legal opinion on the matter and was briefed on by Attorney General Atul Nanda on Thursday night.
When contacted, Nanda declined to provide details. State Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal said the government is considering such a move. “But there is a feeling that the Supreme Court can bring it down. The Chief Minister has already said that we will go to the Supreme Court against the legislation of the central government. Let’s see, ”he said.
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Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office said agriculture experts had recommended on Sept. 17 that Punjab should follow in the footsteps taken by Rajasthan, another state ruled by Congress.
Last month, Rajasthan had notified all warehouses of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and Rajasthan State Warehousing Corporation (RSWC) as procurement centers under the state’s APMC Act.
“At that time, the Chief Minister told us that he would wait for both Houses of Parliament to pass the bills. Now the government is considering both possibilities. It can declare the whole state a mandi yard or it can seek to replicate the Rajasthan model, ”the sources said.
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On Wednesday, the head of SAD, Sukhbir Singh Badal, and Congressman Rajya Sabha, Partap Singh Bajwa, suggested that the Chief Minister should declare the entire state as Chief Mandi Yard. Badal had also said that if the SAD comes to power in 2022, it will modify the law.
The Center’s bill has defined a commercial area as any area or location that does not include the physical limits of the market yards administered and administered by the market committees formed under the APMC Act of each state. This allows farmers to sell their products directly, without having to go through mandis or APMC intermediaries.
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But the provision has also raised concerns among farmers that if the mandi system comes to an end, the MSP mechanism would be eliminated as well. Speaking on The Indian Express Idea Exchange on Wednesday, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had stressed that the central government was committed to the MSP.
Under the Punjab Mandi Board Act 1961, the state can declare mandi shipyards for acquisition; It has already declared 1,830 shipyards. This time, prior to the purchase of rice, the government has also declared the huskers and rice mills as mandi yards, using the same provisions of the law. Officials said there will be around 4,000 mandi yards in the state for staggered acquisition of rice in light of the Covid pandemic.
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