Accusing the NDA government of violating the federal structure of the Constitution by passing bills on items reserved on the State list, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal on Friday said that Punjab alone would suffer a loss of Rs 4,000 crore every year that will lead to the mass destruction of rural livelihoods, increasing farmer distress and pauperisation.
Addressing the media at Bathinda, the minister stated that the NDA government is shying away from issuing a categorical assurance to the indian farmers that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will remain intact. “Why is the Union government hesitating in announcing that unlimited and uninterrupted MSP will continue”, he asked. agriculture falls in the state list of subjects, said the minister, adding that the Union government’s action impinges on the state’s rights. Despite including a provision in the indian Constitution regarding compensating states in case of GST revenue shortfall, the NDA government has deliberately ignored the federal fabric of the Constitution, he added.
“This is the death knell of the MSP and the agriculture Produce Marketing Committees that have served the nation very well since the 1960s,” Manpreet Singh Badal said.