Not sparing the BJP led Central Government in his attack over the three agriculture legislations, the Congress leader and the former Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday once again cornered his own party’s Government stressing on the need to bring new legislations to ensure minimum support price (MSP) on oilseeds and lentils to encourage farmers to get out of the wheat-rice cycle that get MSP from the Centre.
The cricketer-turned-politician, days after taking in Congress led Punjab Govt over alleged squandering of public money my mafias, said that the Punjab Government should take all democratic and legal steps to help the farmer — using the “democratic power given to us by three crore Punjabis”.
Sidhu, addressing the media at Punjab Bhawan, said that the Centre’s three farm laws were an infringement on the State’s right to legislate and that the Centre could not scuttle the legislative sphere of the States.
“Thus, we have enough grounds to completely deny the implementation of these black laws in Punjab…Yet why, in this case, are we just amending the Central laws and sending them back, when we know very well that all these amendments will not be implemented until either approved by the President of India or if the Central laws are first withdrawn?” he said.
“By means of mere amendments, we are going to the Constitutional head, who may not choose to help us, and maybe is not a good position to be in at this decisive critical juncture. Instead, why not use the democratic power given to us by three crore Punjabis by honouring their aspirations?” said Sidhu.
Sidhu said that to help farmers get MSP, there should be an expansion of procurement beyond wheat and rice in the State.
He added that the farmers cannot diversify until MSP is provided and there is assured procurement.
“To begin with, Punjab can procure pulses and oilseeds through Markfed or PunSup on MSP. Punjab imports pulses and edible oils for our own consumption. Keep aside the money we use to import pulses and edible oil from outside and utilize it to procure from Punjab itself.
State Corporations can further process oil seeds and market them outside Punjab... In future, Punjab can expand MSP and assurance of procurement to vegetables and fruits.
For this to become reality, we must take the second necessary step today,” he said.
Suggesting to create storage facility to counter the “corporate onslaught” by the Centre, Sidhu contended that once the farmers had storage capacity, they would be in a position to negotiate the price of their crops and they “could be saved from the onslaught of corporate”.
Sidhu also asked the Congress Government to provide a scheme for income support to agricultural labourers. “I demand that we give MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act)-like income support to all agricultural labour in Punjab which will benefit not only the labour as an increment in their daily wages but also help the farmer as an agricultural labour subsidy and ease their financial burden,” he said.
“We should increase the minimum wages of labour, linking it to inflation and the Government should directly pay the difference.
Thirty-six percent of Punjabis are Dalits, owning only two percent of land.
Most of them work as labour. Let us support them,” he said.
Sidhu avoided replies on his recent statement questioning performance of his own party’s government.
He was addressing the media almost two years after he resigned from the Cabinet. At the beginning, he made it clear that he would talk only on the central agriculture laws and the ways to bail out farmers of the farm crisis.
Sidhu said that he would raise the issue in the CLP meeting whenever it was called as he could talk remaining within the party decorum.
“I have been raising the issue on public platform, be it mining or other issues.
But the statements should be seen in right perspective,” he said.
