Punjab to bring another Bill to negate 3 Central farm laws

With an earlier Bill adopted by the Punjab Assembly to negate the Central farm laws still awaiting a nod from the Governor, the Amarinder Singh government plans to bring yet another Bill on the issue in the House, party sources told IANS on Tuesday.

“The Amarinder Singh-led government in the state is consulting legal experts and others to bring yet another Bill during the Budget session of the Assembly from February 12 to February 21 to negate the farm laws passed by the Centre in September 2020,” Congress general secretary Harish Rawat, who is incharge of the party affairs in Punjab, was quoted as saying.

“Once the second Bill is passed, Governor VP Singh Badnore will be compelled to forward the Bill to President Ram Nath Kovind for assent,” Rawat told IANS.

The Congress leader asserted that the state was well within its rights to pass such Bills since ‘agriculture’ is on the Concurrent List given in the 7th Schedule of the Constitution, thereby implying that both the Centre and the states can formulate laws on it. The Bill seeks to amend the Civil Procedure Code and replace The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.

The earlier Bill had sought annulment of the farm laws and the proposed Electricity Bill, as well as promulgation of a “fresh ordinance to make procurement of food grains on minimum support price a statutory right of the farmers and continue with the procurement by the government of India through the FCI and other government agencies”.

With IANS inputs