Punjab’s assembly passed three new laws to block agricultural laws on October 19.
Chandigarh:
Punjab’s protest against controversial agricultural laws will take place tomorrow at Delhi’s Raj Ghat, the monument to Mahatma Gandhi. The protest was planned by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his MLA members after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected their request for a meeting to discuss new laws that sparked mass protests in the state.
The decision to meet with the president came when the Center, citing “roko railway” protests against agricultural laws, stopped trains to Punjab, which is interfering with the supply of basic goods.
Farmers in the state, who cut back on their protests last week after the assembly passed three bills to counter farm laws, are now again upset by the Center’s new measure.
The stop of freight trains has blocked the supply of fertilizers for wheat and vegetables and state authorities have said it is likely to affect all winter crops.
After the assembly passed the three new laws to block agricultural laws on October 19, the farmers had moved their protest away from the railroad tracks. The train services had not stopped since.
However, the laws have not yet been approved by the state’s governor, Vice President Singh Badnore. No reason has been cited for the delay.
The three agricultural bills were approved: the Draft Law on Trade in Agricultural Products and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation), 2020, the Agreement for the Guarantee of Prices and Agricultural Services (Empowerment and Protection) of Farmers, 2020 and the Project of Essential Products (Amendment) Act, 2020. by Parliament recently.
Amid farmers’ fears of exploitation by the private sector, the government has said it would take them out of the control of middlemen and help them get better yields for their crops through direct deals with retail chains.
Congress and some farmers’ organizations argue that the laws will break the minimum price support mechanism, the Agricultural Products Market Committees, or APMC, and allow companies to manipulate farmers.
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