Rajasthani Minister Shanti Dhariwal said the whole country was against Center laws (File)
Jaipur:
The Rajasthan Assembly on Monday adopted three bills to counter agricultural laws promulgated by the Center with the State, like the Punjab and Chhattisgarh, managed by Congress.
BJP MPs staged a strike just ahead of the voice vote which took place after about eight hours of debate in the House.
Rajasthan’s bills prescribe that crops will be bought or sold for at least the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and provide for a prison sentence of three to seven years for harassing farmers.
However, bills only become law after the approval of the governor, who can retain them and decide to send them back to the president.
The Parliament recently enacted agricultural laws deregulating the sale of agricultural products. Several farmers’ unions and the opposition Congress have claimed that the BJP government’s move to the center will lead to the dismantling of the MSP system.
Responding to the debate in the assembly, Rajasthan’s Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Shanti Dhariwal said the whole country was against the new central agricultural laws.
“I can say this with the guarantee that the three agricultural laws will have to be withdrawn, as will the law on land acquisition,” Dhariwal said.
Mr Dhariwal said farmers were free to sell their produce anywhere in the country under the existing system, contrary to what was claimed by the Center.
“Farmers were free to sell their products all over the country and you say you released them. You worked to sell agriculture mandis directly into the hands of companies, ”said Mr. Dhariwal.
