“I will not let the farmers suffer or be ruined,” said Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Highlight
- “I will not let the farmers suffer,” said Captain Amarinder Singh.
- His government presented a resolution in the state assembly against the agricultural laws
- Punjab seeks to counter the effects of agricultural laws in the state
Chandigarh:
“I am not afraid to resign,” Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said today after his government presented a resolution in the state assembly against the controversial agricultural laws recently enacted by the center.
“I am not afraid that my government will be removed. But I will not let the peasants suffer or be ruined,” he told the state assembly.
The resolution was proposed by Singh, who is the House leader, on the second day of a special assembly session in Chandigarh on the new agricultural laws. The Chief Minister also introduced three bills to counter the agricultural laws of the center.
Punjab seeks to counteract the effects of agricultural laws at the state level using state laws as much as possible. The state had become the epicenter of protests by farmers and political parties against the farm laws.
“We have been with you, now it is your turn to be with us,” Singh said today, in an appeal to farmers.
Meanwhile, deputies from the opposition party Aam Aadmi last night at the assembly building in protest against the government of Amarinder Singh for not sharing the draft of a new law on agriculture.
The three bills introduced by Amarinder Singh are: the Special Provisions on Trade in Agricultural Products and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) and the Punjab Amendment Bill 2020, the Essential Commodities Bill (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) 2020 and the Farmers Agreement (Empowerment and Protection) on Agricultural Price Guarantee and Services (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Act of 2020.
Shiromani Akali Dal, who is also in the opposition in the state, said the bill should have been tabled at the Punjab assembly on the same Monday.
The three controversial farm bills that were at the center of a major political storm and cost the ruling BJP its alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal, became law on September 29 with the signing of President Ram Nath Kovind. While critics say that farmers will lose bargaining power with the entry of private actors into the agricultural sector and will not get a minimum price support for their products, the government has said the new laws will help small and marginal farmers.
While critics say that farmers will lose bargaining power with the entry of private actors into the agricultural sector and will not get a minimum price support for their products, the center has said the new laws will help small and marginal farmers.
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