Punjab Vidhan Sabha Unanimously Rejects Centre’s Draft National Agriculture Policy

Chandigarh, Feb 25: In a major political development, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Tuesday unanimously rejected the Centre’s draft National Policy on Agriculture Marketing. Led by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, MLAs from both sides together rejected the policy and termed it an infringement on the state’s jurisdiction on agriculture marketing.

In a two-hour debate on a resolution moved by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, the MLAs expressed their strong objection to the draft policy. The assembly members argued that agriculture marketing is a subject of state governments and the Centre’s interference in the sector is against the spirit of the Constitution.

Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs Jangi Lal Mahajan and Ashwani Sharma remained absent in the debate. But the rest of the MLAs from both the ruling and opposition parties unanimously opposed the policy.

The main issue raised by the assembly members was that the draft policy proposes to encourage private markets to the detriment of the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) system. He argued that the provisions of the policy seek to weaken APMC markets, making them eventually irrelevant and setting the stage for corporate dominance in agricultural trade.

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Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann strongly criticised the Centre and accused it of making policies against the interests of farmers. He reaffirmed Punjab’s resolve to protect its agricultural economy and ensure that farmers should continue to have authority over agricultural marketing.

The passing of the resolution by the Assembly is another bone of contention in the tension between Punjab and the central government over agricultural policies. Punjab, one of India’s top agricultural states, is sensitive to the fact that this rejection is part of a broader resistance against any dilution of state control in the agricultural sector.

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