Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday moved a resolution in the assembly rejecting three farm laws that the Centre had passed in the Parliament, and demanded that the government withdraw the legislations. He presented three bills in the assembly— Amendment to Farmers Produce Facilitation Act, Amendment to the Essential Commodities Act and Amendment to the Farmers Agreement and Farm Services Act—to counter the farm laws.
In the monsoon session of the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, introduced The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. Tomar said the bills will enable barrier-free trade in agricultural produce, and also empower farmers to engage with investors of their choice. The Congress and other parties are opposing the bills saying such a move will not be in the interests of the farmers as they will kill the protective provisions in the APMC Act, and Minimum Support Price (MSP). The farmer bodies are agitating saying that the changes will benefit the big corporates, and farmers will lose in the long run.
Massive protests were reported across Punjab and Haryana against the bills. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which is the principal opposition in the state, had cut ties with the BJP at the Centre over the passage of the bills.
The opposition had slammed the Punjab government for not tabling the bills on the first day of a special assembly session. The two-day special assembly session began with obituary references as Chief Minister Amarinder Singh led the House in paying homage to the farmers who lost their lives during the ongoing agitation against the farm laws. Amritsar East MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu attended the assembly session for the first time since his resignation from the state cabinet last year.
SAD MLAs rode tractors to reach the Vidhan Sabha in protest against the farm laws. They tore copies of the Centre's farm laws. AAP MLAs staged a protest outside the assembly complex wearing black capes as they tore and burnt copies of the farm laws. The house was adjourned for an hour by Speaker Rana K.P. Singh after the assembly took up obituary references. The house reassembled for nearly 15 minutes before being adjourned till Tuesday.
