Congress Speaker Sonia Gandhi on Monday recommended that party-ruled states explore the possibilities of passing article 254 (2) legislation to deny the “anti-agricultural laws” of the central government led by the Bharatiya Party. Janata (BJP) and prevent “grave injustice”. made to farmers.
The opposition party is citing the BJP government’s move in 2015 when it asked party-ruled states to come up with their own laws to override the 2013 land acquisition law passed during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure. ) to drive infrastructure development.
“The president of Congress has advised the states governed by Congress to explore the possibilities of passing laws in their respective states under article 254 (2) of the Constitution that allows state legislatures to pass a law to negate the core laws. against agriculture that invade the jurisdiction of the state under the Constitution ”, said in a statement the secretary general of Congress in charge of the organization KC Venugopal.
“This would allow states to circumvent the unacceptable anti-farmer provisions in the three draconian farm laws, including the abolition of MSP and the discontinuation of APMC in states governed by Congress,” he added.
The government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) pushed through three bills to deregulate agricultural trade, which were controversially passed by Parliament, overriding the Opposition’s demands for greater scrutiny and voting.
Large groups of farmers, particularly in Punjab and Haryana, are protesting the bills, fearing deregulation will leave them vulnerable to powerful agribusinesses and in an even weaker bargaining position than before.
The reforms have cost the BJP one of its oldest allies, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), who has stepped down from the ruling alliance.
The Agricultural Trade and Agricultural Products (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, the Farmers Price Guarantee Agreement (Empowerment and Protection), the Agricultural Services Bill 2020 and the Products Bill 2020 Essential Basics (Amendment) seek to liberalize agricultural trade, supply chains, allow agribusinesses and farmers to enter into contracts, break up interconnected markets, and create a seamless, currently fragmented commodity trade.
The ‘Agricultural Products Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020’ allows barrier-free interstate and intrastate commerce of primary agricultural products, bypassing the markets notified under the agricultural commodity market committees. The bill will allow food traders to buy agricultural products from any market, rather than linking them to the specific markets where they are licensed to operate.
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