Captain Amarinder Singh tables three bills in Punjab Assembly to counter Centre's farm laws

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday moved a resolution in the state Assembly against the contentious farm laws enacted by the Centre recently. The resolution was moved by the Leader of the House on the second day of a special Assembly session in Chandigarh over the new farm laws. The chief minister also introduced three bills to counter the Centre’s farm laws. The three bills introduced by Singh are - the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment Bill 2020, the Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill 2020. Addressing the members of the House, Singh said agriculture is a state subject but the Centre ignored it. “I find it very strange what the government of India wants to do,” he said. The three farm bills - the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 – were passed by Parliament recently. Subsequently, President Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the bills. Farmers in the agrarian states of Punjab and Haryana are up in arms against the Centre’s farm laws.