Punjab Assembly rejects draft of National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann speaks on the resolution against the Centre’s draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing in the State Legislative Assembly, in Chandigarh, on February 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Punjab State Assembly on Tuesday (February 25, 2025) rejected the draft of the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing, terming it against the interests of the State.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said the State Government has already made its position clear in a written reply sent to the Union government.

The Chief Minister said that the draft policy is an attempt to bring back the contentious provisions of the three farm laws repealed in 2021 by the Government of India after a long protest by the farmers. He said that since this issue is a State subject as per the Constitution, the Government of India should not draw up any such policy.

‘Hatred against Punjab’

“The Union Government’s stepmotherly treatment of the State has its roots in the protest spearheaded by Punjab’s farmers against the farm laws, after which the Union government had to bow. The hatred against Punjab is largely because the Centre had to take back this law,” he said.

Also read | Farmer outfits urge Punjab government to reject Centre’s draft policy on agricultural marketing

The Congress’s Partap Singh Bajwa, Leader of the Opposition, said the draft will prove fatal for the farming sector in Punjab, and the Punjab Congress is prepared to support the Punjab Government against the draft.

“The Punjab Congress can do anything to defend the interests of Punjab. We won’t even shy away from fighting together with the Punjab government to protect the rights and causes of Punjab,” said Mr. Bajwa.

Terming the BJP as an anti-Punjab party, Mr. Bajwa said that the BJP is hell-bent on weakening Punjab both economically and politically. “The BJP only serves the interests of multinational companies and big corporations and is least bothered about working for the interests of farmers and other unprivileged sections,” he said.