Rajasthan Assembly session on new farm Bills from Oct. 31

Item

Title

Rajasthan Assembly session on new farm Bills from Oct. 31

Description

A special session of the Rajasthan Assembly to bring amendment Bills against the Centre’s recent agriculture sector laws will begin here on October 31. Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi on Saturday convened the session, which was earlier adjourned on August 24 after the Congress government won the confidence vote on the floor of the House. The notification for convening the Assembly session was issued after the State government made a recommendation for carrying out an “urgent legislative work”. Official sources said the Governor’s permission for reconvening the sitting was not required because the Assembly was earlier only adjourned without the formal orders for prorogation. The Ashok Gehlot government is set to introduce the Bills, on the lines of those in Punjab, formally rejecting the new Central farm Acts and nullifying their applicability to the State. The Assembly may also adopt a resolution against the Centre’s “rigid stand” on the issue despite strong opposition by large sections of farmers across the country. Cabinet approval The State Council of Ministers had earlier this week approved the proposal to bring the Bills in the Assembly, while laying emphasis on a mandatory provision for procurement of agricultural produce at minimum support prices. There may be penal provisions for those paying less than minimum support prices as in the Punjab Bills. As many as seven crops — wheat, gram, mustard, moong, urad, soybean and groundnut — are covered under MSP in Rajasthan. The State’s proposed farm laws may also restore the powers for settlement of disputes in crop procurement to the civil courts. The Chief Minister had recently indicated that Rajasthan would follow suit after the passage of Bills against the Central statutes in the Punjab Assembly. The Congress, which stood resolutely with the farmers, would continue to oppose the laws harming the agriculturists passed by the BJP-led government at the Centre, Mr. Gehlot had stated.

Publisher

The Hindu

Date

2020-10-25

Coverage

JAIPUR