Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had promised to fight till the laws were amended (File)
Punjab has decided to reject the Centre's contentious farm laws that have raised a storm across the state and neighbouring Haryana. A special assembly session will be held for this on October 19, the state cabinet resolved today.
The decision of the cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, makes Punjab the first state to officially reject the farm laws. During the assembly session that ended on August 28, a resolution was passed to this effect.
The cabinet's move is expected to have overwhelming support, with both the ruling Congress and the opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) being on the same side for once.
The Congress has promised to repeal the laws if it comes to power in the Centre. In the state, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has spoken about "waging a war against the new laws."
The SAD, which initially supported the farm laws, did a U-turn last month as farmers' protests gathered steam. Under pressure from the farmers and the Congress, the party broke off from the NDA and walked out of the government.
The Central government enacted the three new laws last month amid vociferous protests by farmers, who say the laws will reduce their bargaining power and hand over control of the on prices to large retailers.
Farmers' organisations fear the government may stop buying grain at guaranteed prices, a move that could disrupt wholesale markets that have so far ensured fair and timely payments.
They also find the idea of dealing with big corporates alarming. Small farmers, whom the laws were meant to empower, are particularly apprehensive of being left at the mercy of big companies with the phasing out of wholesale agricultural markets.
The protests have been particularly intense in Punjab, a predominantly agricultural state.
"We will not back out of the fight against the black farm laws till they are amended to give a written Constitutional guarantee on MSP (minimum support price) and continuation of the FCI (Food Corporation of India)," Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said on October 4.
His Congress party had held tractor rallies on October 4-6 across the state in protest.
The Centre -- which says the laws are big-ticket farm sector reforms that will free farmers from the clutches of the middlemen -- had invited Punjab farmers for a discussion in Delhi today.
The meeting, however, ended in chaos as farmers' representatives walked out over the absence of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar or his junior minister. Agitated farmers' representatives were seen shouting slogans and tearing copies of new farm laws outside the venue.
The farmers have warned that their agitation will continue till the laws are scrapped.