Chandigarh, Sep 16 (UNI) Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday led a Congress delegation to submit a memorandum to Governor V P Singh Badnore, seeking his intervention for non-pursuance of the Agriculture Bills by the Centre in Parliament.
Flanked by Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and other members of the delegation, the Chief Minister told the Governor that the party felt that any move to tinker with the present procurement system, and that too in the times of nation-wide crisis, may deepen social unrest amongst the farmers of the state.
“It may not be conducive for the peace and development of the region, which faces serious challenges of public order due to a live international border,” he stressed.
Pointing to Pakistan’s bid to disturb the state’s peace and stability through narco-terror and other anti-India acts, the Chief Minister later told mediapersons outside the Governor House that these anti-farmer legislations would lead to rise in the people’s anger. “Why are we playing into the hands of Pakistan?,” he asked.
These Bills, one of which has already been passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday, are against national interest, and particularly detrimental to Punjab, where the majority of the farmers tilled less than 5 acres of land and would be the worst hit, warned Capt Amarinder.
Hoping that the Centre will back out of pursuing the remaining two Bills and not get them passed in Parliament, he said the Centre had failed to take the interest of the farmers into account in introducing these Ordinances and instead, took a stand in favour of corporate houses.
Capt Amarinder said he had written to the Prime Minister thrice on the issue but had not received any response to far. The enactment of the remaining two Bills would ruin Punjab, he said. If MSP ends, which is what the Centre seems to be moving towards, the agriculture sector will be ruined in Punjab and across the country, he added.
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