Punjab Govt to call Assembly session to discuss draft agri policy
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is likely to convene the winter session of Vidhan Sabha in the second week of January to discuss the National Policy Framework for Agricultural Marketing with elected representatives of all parties.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian here today. The latter discussed the draft policy shared by the Centre with the state and explained its implications, especially as it seeks to promote privatisation in the food procurement and storage operations besides reducing the fee charged by the marketing board for procuring grains and other agricultural produce.
The idea is to create a political consensus against the implications of the draft policy on the state economy and its farmers. Already, there is a consensus among leaders of parties across the state’s political spectrum against certain clauses of the policy that seek to promote private players in the food procurement business.
By bringing a memorandum in the Vidhan Sabha, the AAP government wants to make the state’s objections more impactful. Punjab had yesterday sought three weeks from the chairman of the drafting committee of the policy to send its observations.
“I told the CM about my meeting with experts yesterday and their opinion that Punjab will be robbed of its robust mandi system as private players will call the shots. Not only will it lead to monopolistic trade practices, hitting our farmers, but will also be detrimental to our agriculture-based economy,” Khuddian told The Tribune.
It is learnt that while the state government has already convened a meeting of all farmer unions and agriculture experts and economists on December 19, they will wait for the urban civic poll to end on December 21, before CM Mann convenes a meeting of his Council of Ministers next week.
The policy and its ramifications for the agro economy of the state will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting before the Assembly session is convened in the week beginning January 6.
It may be mentioned that farmer unions in the state have already expressed their opposition to the draft policy, saying it is an indirect way of bringing back the three farm laws that were suspended by the Centre in November 2021.
