Delhi government notifies one farm law, examining the other two

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has notified one of the three Central farm laws and is examining the remaining two, officials said on Tuesday.
The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 was notified on November 23, said a senior Delhi government official.
"The remaining two laws are under examination by the development department of the Delhi government," he said.
The ruling AAP said the notification allows farmers to sell their crop anywhere, including outside mandis. Selling of fruits and vegetables was already de-regulated in Delhi many years ago; now this holds for grains too, it said.
The party has openly supported the farmers demands to scrap the laws. chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also demanded withdrawing of the laws in a protest by AAP at Jantar Mantar last month.
Officials said that vegetables and fruits were deregulated in 2014 enabling trading beyond agricultural produce marketing committee managed mandis. The notified law adds foodgrains and poultry to the list, they said.
Opposition BJP and Congress attacked the AAP for its support to farmers agitation while notifying the farm law.
"The notification exposes duplicacy of AAP and the Kejriwal government. They want to share the benefits of the new farm laws while misguiding the farmers," charged BJP MP and former Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari.
The AAP hit back at the BJP over the issue saying it was trying to divert attention of people from the nationwide protest by the farmers.
"BJP is clueless about how to handle the nationwide protest by farmers and is therefore hopelessly trying to divert attention of the public," it said in a statement.
The mandis have not been dismantled and they are continuing. Farmers demand is that they should get MSP (minimum support price) whether inside or outside mandi which AAP supports, added the statement.
Punjab CM shocked at Delhi govt notification on farm laws
CHANDIGARH (ANI): Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has expressed shock at the Delhi Government's notification on implementing the black farm laws, according to a press release on Tuesday.
The Punjab chief minister hit out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its double standards on the farmers' protests, by saying that the party has exposed itself by implementing the draconian farm laws in the midst of the crisis while pretending to be standing with the farmers.
Even as AAP was claiming to be supporting the agitating farmers, the Arvind Kejriwal government had executed the black laws through a gazette notification on November 23, 2020, Singh said, adding that the party was indulging in political games to further its electoral agenda.
Quite clearly, AAP had been working behind the farmers' backs all these days, said the Chief Minister, expressing shock at the fact that even before the farmers had embarked on their Delhi Chalo march, the Kejriwal government had issued the notification which would spell the death-knell for the `annadattas' (translated as food producers) in the national capital.
"Do they have no shame?" asked Singh, slamming AAP for misleading the Kisan Unions by pretending to be supporting their cause. He said that all this time, Kejriwal's party was indulging in political theatrics.
"First, they failed to pass any amendment laws in the Delhi Assembly to negate the central laws, as was done in Punjab. And now they have gone so far as to officially notify the agricultural legislations in Delhi, where AAP is in power. The party's true intent and affiliation has been utterly exposed," Captain Amarinder said.
Responding to AAP's criticism of his handling of the situation and for taking on Haryana CM ML Khattar, the chief minister remarked that while he was busy fighting for the rights of his farmers, Kejriwal was preparing to pull the rug under the feet of the farmers, who had been braving all kinds of atrocities by the Haryana government in their quest for justice.
"Not once did AAP criticize the brutality inflicted on farmers," he pointed out, by adding that, instead, Arvind Kejriwal's party had failed to even condemn the Akalis for their role in the legislation of the agricultural ordinances.
Observing that the AAP government in Delhi did not even accept the farmers' demand for a protest site at Ram Lila ground or Jantar Mantar, Captain Amarinder asked why did they resort to toeing with the BJP line in this whole affair.
Captain Amarinder also lambasted AAP for befooling the farmers with its ill-conceived suggestion that the Punjab government should pass a bill in the state Assembly to make MSP a statutory right for farmers in the state.
"It is obvious that AAP either does not understand the problems of farmers or simply does not care," he said, asking that "even if the state has the money to buy all the food grain, which it simply does not, where would they sell the same?"
In any case, he pointed out that MSP and other issues raised by the farmers did not relate to Punjab alone but farmers of the whole country. "Can't you see that farmers from all agricultural states are marching to Delhi to fight against the farm laws? Or is that you simply cannot see beyond your own petty political interests," he asked AAP leaders.
The three farm laws are The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Service Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.The central government has sought to allay apprehensions of farmers on the minimum support price and said farm laws provide them the freedom to sell their produce.