Chandigarh, October 21, 2020 (Yes Punjab News)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President and Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann termed the three bills passed by the Punjab Government in the specially convened Punjab Vidhan Sabha as parallel to the three Central Agriculture Bills, adding that they were not enough to safeguard the interests of farmers of the state.
Mann said that the only way forward was that the state government should enact its own law guaranteeing the purchase of all crops, including wheat and paddy, at a minimum support price (MSP), saying that the entire process be brought under the purview of the law.
He said this while interacting with the media at Vidhan Sabha Bhawan along with Barnala MLA Meet Hayer. They were later joined in by LoP Harpal Singh Cheema and other party MLAs, after staging a walkout.
Bhagwant Mann said that the AAP had wholeheartedly supported the Amarinder government for the sake of farmers inside the House by rising above politics and accompanied the delegation to Raj Bhawan to meet the Governor. He added that was necessary to send out a clear and categorical message to the dictatorial Modi government at the Center that the people of Punjab were united against the deadly laws and stood rock solid with the struggling peasants.
The AAP MP said that the three Bills passed by the Punjab Vidhan Sabha were mere amendments to negate the three deadly Bills passed by the Center, which had not yet been signed by the Governor, sans which the amendments made by the state governments to the Central laws were meaningless.
Mann said, “Those in power who are distributing ‘laddu’ by projecting themselves to the benefactors of farmer citing the passage of the bills as a big achievement of the government, which is a mere wishful thinking with eyes on 2022 elections.” Mann said that the battle had begun and we had a long way to go to win the big battle, adding that the farmers were still fighting the big battle on the roads and sitting on railway tracks.
The AAP leader said “If the farmers do not get full crops price from private buyers and the central government defaults on MSP, the Punjab Government should step in and guarantees procurement of single grain at MSP, thus safeguarding the interests of farmers in the state.
He accused the Amarinder Singh government of running away from its statutory obligation towards farmers, citing fiscal crunch. Mann added that if the Amarinder government failed to do so, the AAP after forming its government in 2022, it would crush mafia ‘raj’ and stop open ‘loot’ of public exchequer and enforce the procurement law with MSP guarantee on all crops.
On the occasion, Meet Hayer questioned “How can state government legally negate/ amend the laws brought in by the Center. The government in the saddle is doing all this drama in cahoots with the Modi-led government, which was why draft bills were not handed over to the Opposition on time, which led AAP MLAs to stage a sit-in in the Vidhan Sabha day and night.”
Hayer said that if the Center and private buyers do not procure crops at MSP, the state government should guarantee purchase of crop at MSP thus saving the ‘annadaata’ from perishing.
LoP Harpal Singh Cheema said that chief minister Amarinder Singh was fooling the people of Punjab, especially farmers and people of Punjab by indulging in skulduggery. The AAP MLAs staged a walk out of the House demanding that the state government should enact new bill for procurement of crops at MSP.
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