Farmers Movement Archive

Issue white paper on your part in farm ordinances: SAD to Cong

Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has asked Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh to issue a white paper on his as well as the Congress government’s participation “which led to the framing of three central agricultural ordinances”. SAD spokesperson Daljeet Singh Cheema on Thursday alleged the CM had betrayed farmers of Punjab “by supporting various provisions” contained in these ordinances. The Congress should burn its manifestos in Delhi instead of indulging in cheap drama as it was the party which had promised in its national manifesto in 2019 that it would repeal the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act and allow free inter-state trade without any restrictions, he claimed. The former minister claimed not only was Capt Amarinder a member of the high-powered committee which framed the ordinances but finance minister Manpreet Singh Badal had also attended a meeting of the committee in Mumbai. The Congress government in Punjab also sent a six-page note to the Centre which formed its reaction to the discussion on the ordinances, he added. The SAD functionaries said now that it had been “proven beyond doubt” that the Congress government had actively participated in the framing of the ordinances, the state government must issue a white paper detailing all the meetings, ministers and officers who had participated in meetings and the minutes of these meetings. “All this is necessary to make it clear to the people as to who betrayed them,” he added. He said the Congress government’s response highlighted the need of market reforms. He said the response also stated that market reforms would promote private investment. “It also admits that the draft resolution suggested scrapping of the Essential Commodities Act, which has now been amended,” he added. Responding to cabinet minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s statement on contract farming, Cheema said he had talked about the Contract Farming Act brought in by the SAD-BJP government in 2013 but had refused to specify if he had opposed it then or not. He added if the Congress government felt the Act was not beneficial to farmers it should have revoked it by now.

The Times of India

2020-09-18

Chandigarh