Farmers Movement Archive

Maharashtra: MVA government stays use of Centre’s farm ordinances

MUMBAI: The MVA government stayed two orders issued in August on implementation of central ordinances on farm reforms—they were passed by Parliament, approved by the President and also notified as laws recently —after Congress ministers led by Balasaheb Thorat threatened to boycott Wednesday’s Maharashtra cabinet meeting. The stay granted by cooperation and marketing minister Balasaheb Patil was later discussed in the cabinet meeting presided over by CM Uddhav Thackeray. While a cabinet sub-committee has been set up to study the ordinances and make recommendations to the Centre, a section of cabinet members questioned Patil’s powers to stay implementation of a central ordinance. “The two orders issued by the state government pertained to implementation of Central ordinances. In our opinion, the state minister has no powers to stay Central ordinances,” a senior minister said. The MVA regime has said it is opposed to the agri reform laws passed by the Centre. While Congress opposed the farm bills in both houses of Parliament in September, NCP and Shiv Sena chose to stage a walkout in the Rajya Sabha in September rather than record their opposition. The twin orders in Maharashtra had been issued by deputy secretary K G Valvi and director (marketing) Satish Soni on August 10. They provided for stringent implementation of the farm ordinances promulgated by the NDA government in June. According to reports, after the two orders were issued by the cooperation department, Patil realized that they were against the policies of the MVA government because not only the Congress but even his own party, NCP, had lodged a strong protest against the reforms. Sensing possible embarrassment for the MVA, Patil on September 16 wrote a letter to principal secretary (marketing) Anup Kumar, saying immediate steps should be taken for staying the two orders. However, no action was taken on the minister’s letter. On September 27, Congress’s Thorat too wrote a letter to Patil, saying since the Congress has described the legislation as a black law, it would be appropriate if the decision is stayed with immediate effect. As there was no response, Thorat on Tuesday night informed leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi that if the orders were not withdrawn, the Congress would boycott Wednesday’s cabinet meeting. Meanwhile, NCP legislator Shashikant Shinde also filed an appeal before Patil against the two orders. Shinde submitted that since the farmers and Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees were not heard by the government, the orders were passed unilaterally and against the principles of natural justice. Patil on Wednesday heard Shinde and passed a two-page stay order, saying the orders were issued without hearing the aggrieved parties and that they violated the principles of natural justice. The orders have been stayed till October 27.

The Times of India

2020-10-01

Mumbai