After being exposed on the floor of the Rajya Sabha by Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Punjab government led by Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to repeal the Punjab Contract Farming Act, enacted in 2013 by the Shiromani Akali Dal-government. Interestingly, the said law, which is draconian in nature, has seen no ‘farmers’ protesting against it, laying siege to jugular roads or attacking police personnel. Instead, the fake farmers seem to be more interested in putting to display their foolishness on the borders of Delhi by protesting against revolutionary and pathbreaking reforms brought in by the Modi government via the Indian Parliament.
As per a report by Jagran, Captain Amarinder Singh is all set to introduce a bill on the floor of the Punjab Assembly to repeal the Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013. Preparations are underway on a war-footing towards the same direction.
According to the said Act, farmers can be penalised with a fine of up to Rs. 5 lakh and a jail term of one month if they seek an exit out of or reneges a contract signed earlier with a private player or corporate house. In contrast, the farm reforms passed by the Modi government have no such provisions, and it is made abundantly clear that a farmer can exit any contract at any given time without fearing any non-compliance triggered action.
The Punjab Contract Farming Act, 2013 was the brainchild of the Badal-led government of Punjab and was brought in the year 2013 to replace the Amarinder Singh-era law on similar lines, passed in 2003. In 2012, the SAD government repealed Captain’s law, and a year after introduced the draconian law currently enacted in Punjab. Now, once again, Captain Amarinder Singh is making moves to repeal an Akali Dal-era law.
This shows how two political fronts in Punjab are keeping the state’s farmers occupied in a vicious cycle, while the victims themselves have misplaced priorities and are fighting the Modi government, whose reforms are truly liberating and farmer-friendly.
“For two months I kept asking the farmers’ union what is ‘black’ in these laws? Tell me if it should be fixed. Opposition leaders called criticising the agrarian reform. But no one tried to explain how are they harming the farmers,” Narendra Singh Tomar said recently in the Rajya Sabha.
“So, I want to ask the farmers, especially the farmers of Punjab because they have a slightly different situation there — the commission of arhatiyas is different, everything else is different. While we have exempted (transactions) from tax, the state government is levying tax. So, the agitation should be held against the person who is collecting taxes or against the one who is making it tax-free (transactions)? Lekin desh mein ulti Ganga bah rahi hai(But what is happening is the opposite),” the Union Minister added.
While the Punjab farmers pre-empt being victimised by the recent farm reforms passed by the Modi government, alleging that their lands and livelihoods will soon be up for grabs, they are failing to realise that they have already been turned into sitting fodder due to the Badal-era law on contract farming in the state. Instead of directing their anger against those who truly worked overtime to enact anti-farmer policies, the agriculturalists of Punjab seem to be drawing some unique pleasure by agitating against the Modi government.
