Farmers Movement Archive

Panchayats start building consensus against agri bills

Bathinda: Even as the Punjab farmers are leaving no stone unturned in registering their protest against the contentious agriculture bills, various village panchayats are now coming forward to support their cause. These panchayats are not just passing resolutions urging the Union government to withdraw the bills but have also initiated the process to call Gram Sabha sessions to build consensus against the Centre’s legislations. As per the Panchayati Raj Act provision, an announcement has to be made in the village at least a week in advance to call a Gram Sabha session, so that everybody can join it. Accordingly, the panchayats of Jaimal Singh Wala, Dhilwan and Cheema in Barnala district, and Gharacho, Chhahar, Chhajli and Mehla Chowk in Sangrur have called sessions of Gram Sabha on September 30, for which announcements were made on September 23. Besides, a lot of other panchayats have also started making announcements and the Gram Sabha sessions are expected to be convened there in the first or second week of October. Sarpanch Jagjit Singh of Wander Jatana village in Faridkot said, “In a meeting, the village panchayat has rejected the agri bills and asked the Union government to withdraw those, or else they would hold protests. An announcement has also been made in the village for holding the session of Gram Sabha on October 4, where every member will get a chance to speak.” Similarly, sarpanch Veer Singh of Khosa Kotla village in Moga told TOI, “The village panchayat has already rejected the anti-farmer bills. The Gram Sabha session will be convened soon to hold a debate on the issue, which is crucial for the farming community.” “Over a hundred village panchayats in Barnala and Sangrur districts have started the process to call Gram Sabha sessions. Many panchayats have joined hands to oppose these bills. They have even announced to hold protests on their own,” said a member of the panchayat union in Barnala. Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had also given a call to the panchayats to convene Gram Sabha sessions. Party’s state president and MP Bhagwant Mann had three days ago urged the village panchayats to call Gram Sabha sessions. He had also released a video clip giving finer details of the process to call such sessions. “Following that call, hundreds of sarpanches have contacted me. Rising above party lines, most of the panchayat heads have assured me to call Gram Sabha sessions and pass resolutions with voice vote and send these to the President of India and the Prime Minister through SDMs,” Bhagwant Mann told TOI.

The Times of India

2020-09-27

Chandigarh