With the Opposition parties targeting the ruling Congress for not making public the proposed law to negate the Centre’s three farm legislations, Punjab Cabinet on Sunday authorized the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to take any legislative or legal decision to protect farmers’ rights.
At the same time, the Punjab Congress legislators, during the party’s legislative wing meeting, also arrived at a consensus on the need to “reject” the farm laws outright and not implement them in the State. The Chief Minister maintained that the strategy will be based on their views and legal opinion.
The Cabinet, during its meeting, decided that a strategy to counter the black Farm Laws will be finalized ahead of the two-day special session of the Vidhan Sabha, beginning on Monday.
“This fight will go on, we will fight this till the Supreme Court,” the Chief Minister said during the meeting of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP).
Referring to the demand raised by many Kisan Unions some days back for an immediate session of the Assembly, the Chief Minister said that this could not be done earlier as all legal implications had to be examined thoroughly before taking any step.
The Chief Minister said that the views of the MLAs would be taken into account while finalizing the strategy to battle the Farm Laws, in consultation with legal and independent experts, including senior lawyers and All India Congress Committee (AICC) leader P Chidambaram.
“The whole world is watching Punjab with a lot of expectation and the views of the MLAs are extremely important for drafting a comprehensive strategy to protect the state’s farmers and agriculture. The fight will continue till the Supreme Court,” he said.
Making it clear that the fight, for the Congress, was not about politics but to save Punjab’s agriculture and its farmers, Capt Amarinder said that any decision will be taken in the interest of the farming community.
Taking a dig at the Akalis, the Chief Minister said that the Congress was not double faced and had a clear stand on the issue of the Farm Laws.
“My own stand is also clear,” he said, adding that contrary to what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders had been claiming, “Punjab was not consulted at any point on the new legislations”.
Recalling that it was only after he wrote to the Prime Minister that Punjab was included in the Committee formed by the Union Government to discuss agricultural reforms, the Chief Minister said that the first meeting of the panel had already been held by that time. “The issue was not discussed at the second meeting of the Committee, attended by Finance Minister Manpreet Badal, while at the third meeting, attended by officials, a one-line diktat was issued, with no mention anywhere of the Ordinances,” he added.
Earlier, the Punjab Congress MLAs were unanimous in their opinion that the Centre’s anti-farmer legislations should be totally rejected and the State should make suitable amendments to provide for strict action, including imprisonment, for those who purchase wheat or paddy at less than the MSP (minimum support price).
Several legislators stressed the need for aggressively countering the false propaganda being spread by opposition parties against the State Government and the party on the issue of the Farm Laws.
MSP and mandi system had to be protected at all costs, and the unconstitutional laws, which were against federalism, had to be countered effectively, demanded the legislators, adding that the message needs to go out clearly and unequivocally, that the Farm Laws are not acceptable to Punjab.
PUNJAB CABINET APPROVES CONVERSION OF FACTORIES ORDINANCE INTO BILL
To improve the state’s investment climate and generate employment, the Punjab Cabinet on Sunday approved conversion of the Factories (Punjab Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, into a Bill to be tabled for enactment in the Vidhan Sabha’s special session starting from Monday.
The Bill is aimed at amending Section 2m (i), 2m (ii), 65 (4), 85 and inserting a new section (106- B) in the Factories Act, 1948. The Bill provides for changing the existing threshold limit for small units from 10 and 20 to 20 and 40 respectively.
The change has been necessitated by the increase in manufacturing activity by small units in the State, and is aimed at promoting small manufacturing units. This would help create more employment opportunities for workers.
Consequently, the existing section 85 of the Act would also stand amended, said the spokesperson.
Further, in view of the absence of any provision in the existing law for compounding of offences for violations found at the time of inspection of factories by the Inspector, the Bill will also incorporate Section 106 B in the Act to facilitate faster settlement of cases and reduction in court action.
The Bill is aligned to the advice of Legal Remembrancer, said the spokesperson.
WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO PROTECT FARMERS’ INTERESTS: JAKHAR
Punjab Congress president Sunil Jakhar on Sunday said that the Congress-led State Government will do everything possible to protect the farmers’ interests.
Congress Government is set to bring a legislation to negate the Centre’s farm laws during the two-day special Vidhan Sabha session, beginning from Monday. To chalk out the strategy, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh held a detailed meeting with the party legislators to discuss the farm laws and heard their views for the assembly session.
“We discussed how to protect farmers from these black laws. The MLAs gave their suggestions. The government is clear that it will do whatever it can to protect farmers’ interests,” said jakhar after the meeting.
He said that the MLAs were of the opinion that if the Centre feels Punjab's action of countering the new farm laws was not right, they can dismiss the State Government. “If the Narendra Modi Government dismisses our government, they are free to do so. The MLAs are of the opinion, to which the Chief Minister also agreed, that if the Centre has to take such a step they can, but we will do whatever we can to protect interests of farmers,” he said.
We are clear that we have to save farmers; we have to protect the peace, harmony and brotherhood, Jakhar said.
“If Centre thinks Punjab is coming in way of the benefits they want to extend to big corporates through these farm laws and if they want to dismiss our government, they can,” Jakhar said.
Senior Congress leader and MLA Raj Kumar Verka said that Punjab will not accept the “black laws”. “The session will now be of two days instead of one-day duration. We are also bringing other bills for the benefit of landless farmers during the session,” Verka said.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot said that the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has always protected the state's interests. “During his first term as a Chief Minister, he had taken a bold decision to protect the state's interests on water issues. Now again, he is committed to protecting farmers' interests,” he said.
During the previous one-day special assembly session on August 28, a resolution was passed by a majority, sans BJP and the Akali Dal, to reject three contentious farm ordinances, which later took the shape of the laws.
