Captain Amarinder Singh urged the Prime Minister not to go ahead with the legislation (Archive)
Chandigarh:
Punjab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to go ahead with the legislation of “ordinances against farmers introduced in parliament today (Monday)” and announced that he would lead an 11-member congressional delegation to submit a memorandum to the governor. against Wednesday’s ordinances.
According to an official statement, rejecting the Center’s claim that Punjab was incorporated prior to the enactment of the anti-farmer ordinances introduced in Parliament on Monday, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh urged the prime minister not to go ahead with its legislation.
In addition to the Chief Minister, the delegation will include the President of the Punjab Congress, Sunil Jakhar, along with some ministers and members of the party’s MLA, an official spokesperson said.
The decision to meet with the governor came after the BJP-led central government introduced the three controversial ordinances in Parliament for legislation despite strong protests from farmers in several states, including Punjab.
The Chief Minister also wrote a letter to the Prime Minister asking him not to apply the Ordinances and also to make the MSP a legal right of farmers. He urged the Prime Minister not to disappoint the people and farmers of Punjab and to favorably consider his request not to go ahead with the Ordinances, which are not in the interest of farmers.
Meanwhile, stating that his government had consistently opposed the so-called reforms introduced by the Ordinances, the Chief Minister said, in a statement, that at no time did Punjab support any such measure, contrary to what was being projected by the central government. government. In fact, the Ordinances were not discussed once in the only high-powered committee meeting held after Punjab became a member, he added.
In response to the statement made today in Parliament by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Raosaheb Patil Danve, that the high-powered agriculture committee had decided the ordinances after due consideration By all member states, Captain Amarinder called it irresponsible as the Punjab never supported such a move, nor was it consulted prior to the promulgation of the Ordinances.
Noting that Punjab was initially excluded from the high-powered committee established by the central government in July 2019, the Chief Minister said that it was only after the state government protested its inclusion, in August 2019. At that time, the committee had already held its first meeting.
At the second meeting, on August 16, 2019, Finance Minister Manpreet Badal had represented Punjab, and only certain tax issues related to agriculture were discussed. The ordinances or their provisions did not come up for discussion at all at that meeting, according to Manpreet. Subsequently, on September 3, 2019, a meeting of the Secretaries of Agriculture of the member states was held, in which Punjab had taken a firm position against any dilution of the APMC Law. The committee’s draft report was circulated for comment and Punjab had once again made its position clear, firmly opposing any move to water down the farmer-friendly laws.
However, the Chief Minister said, the central government did not address Punjab’s comments and, in fact, there was no meeting or discussion thereafter. Instead, amid the pandemic, the Center decided to enact the Ordinances in June 2020, he added.
The clandestine way in which the ordinances were introduced clearly showed that the central government did not intend to protect the interests of farmers, but was determined to implement the report of Shanta Kumar’s committee, which had recommended the gradual withdrawal of the MSP and the dismantling of the FCI. said the Chief Minister.
The ordinances are not acceptable to Punjab, Capt Amarinder said, adding that they are also anti-federal, as agriculture is a state issue.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
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