Former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said after forming government in the State, his party will block the implementation of the Centre’s agriculture laws.
He said the Akali Dal would declare the entire State a ‘Principal Market Area’ and repeal the amendments to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) 2017, enacted by the Congress government.
“It was the duty of the government to ensure that the produce of the farmers is procured at Minimum Support Price for all the 22 crops for which the Centre annually declares MSP. We have been demanding that the assured marketing at MSP regime must not only continue but must also be expanded to cover all the listed crops. When the Akali Dal forms a government in the State, we will ensure that this demand is converted into an achievement. We will do anything for the farmers because they are the backbone of Punjab’s economy,” he said here.
Mr. Badal alleged that several farmer organisations have dismissed Punjab’s agriculture amendment Bills terming them meaningless. “Chief Minister Amarinder Singh should respond to the dismissive description of his Bills by these organisations,” said Mr. Badal.
Referring to the State farm Bills, Mr. Badal said under the garb of these legislations the Congress, in consonance with the BJP, wants to weaken the intensity of this movement by uprooting it from its base in the country’s most agrarian State.
“The Captain-BJP team misused the sacred precincts of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to implement the Centre’s anti-farmer plans. It is shocking and painful that Punjab’s temple of democracy was misused yesterday [Tuesday] to endorse all the anti-farmer Acts of the Modi government,” said Mr. Badal.
Dushyant attacks CM
Separately, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala accused Capt.Amarinder of deceiving farmers in the guise of Punjab farm Bills. “If Punjab CM truly cares about the farmers then he should pass a Bill to purchase crops like cotton, millets, sunflower instead of just wheat and paddy on MSP,” he said. “Why Congress-governed States do not pass Bills to buy crops at MSP in their States,” he asked.
