Farmers Movement Archive

Badals laid foundation of farm laws, alleges Sidhu

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday hit out at the Badals, accusing the previous led Shiromani Akali Dad-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD) of laying the foundation of the three farm laws. Calling former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal the “niti nirmata” (policymaker) for the agriculture laws, he claimed that the central laws were a “photostat copy” of the Punjab Contract Farming Act enacted during the previous government in 2013. He said that Badal had tabled the Contract Farming Bill in the Punjab assembly in 2013 and it was later enacted as the Act. “I say with conviction and clarity that the Badals laid the foundation of the central laws,” Sidhu said at his first press conference after becoming the state unit head of the Congress, describing them as the real culprits behind the anti-farmer legislation. The Punjab Congress chief was flanked by four working presidents Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Kuljit Singh Nagra and Pawan Goel, state general secretary (organisation) Pargat Singh and principal strategic adviser Mohammad Mustafa. Sidhu said the Badals had initially supported the central laws and then recanted after the farmers started protesting. “The SAD and the BJP are two sides of the same coin. The alliance break-up was a ruse. They will be back together after the elections,” he claimed. A video showing former CM Parkash Singh Badal, SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal praising the central laws was also played. Sidhu agreed to field questions on the subject, but ducked most queries. He also refused to answer questions related to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s statement asking the farmers to move their agitation out of Punjab. On farmer unions’ appeal to political parties not to hold election rallies till the poll schedule is announced, he said: “The matter is under consideration of party leadership.” Giving clause-by-clause details of the Punjab Contract Farming Act, Sidhu said that there was no mention of minimum support price in the state law which also allowed corporates to purchase produce below the MSPs. In case of a dispute, the power to settle it under the 2013 law was vested with the bureaucracy and farmers were barred from approaching the court, he added. Sidhu also compared provisions of the Punjab Contract Farming Act with the Farmers’ (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Private Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, enacted by the Centre last year, calling the latter a facsimile of the state law. Claiming that these laws were enacted to benefit the corporates, the PPCC president said that both laws have no MSP guarantee, allowed direct procurement, provided for dispute resolution by bureaucracy and the farmers could not file suit. “The Punjab law also had a provision that if a farmers defaults, he could be sent to jail for a month and made to pay a fine ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹5 lakh,” he said.

Hindustan Times

16-09-2021

Chandigarh