Kerala may challenge farm Bills
Says Centre didn’t consult states despite agriculture being state subject
The Kerala government is planning to move the Supreme Court against the farm Bills passed by Parliament recently.
Replying to a question on the feasibility of a state government challenging Bills passed by Parliament, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a proposal had come before the Cabinet here on Wednesday.
“We thought it needs to be examined in detail legally. So we decided to send the proposal to the law department for detailed perusal. That’s what has happened,” he said. There were reports that legal advice received by the government stated the passing of farm Bills amounted to violation of states’ powers and blatant and serious contravention of Constitutional norms.
According to the CPMled LDF Government the Bills are anti-farmer and also aimed at promoting the interests of corporates. The Left parties have already announced that they would be taking part in the agitation planned by Kisan Coordination Committee across the country on September 25.
The two Bills - Farmer’s Produce Trade and
Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 - have been passed by both Houses of the Parliament.
Earlier agriculture minister Mr V. S. Sunil Kumar had sought legal opinion and he got the advice that the government can go ahead and challenge the legislations in the apex court.
The matter was discussed at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday and the government was of the opinion that the Bills mounted to interfering with the powers vested with the state under the federal system. Mr Sunil Kumar who has been tested positive, took part in the Cabinet meeting online.
He pointed out that despite the fact that agriculture fell in the state list as per the seventh schedule of the Constitution; the Centre did not consult even single state before introducing these Bills in the Parliament.
He said the Centre had also not taken the farmers organizations into confidence.
“This goes to show that the Bills will only serve the interests of big corporates who have stake in agriculture sector," he said. Apart from fighting the Bills legally in the courts, the agriculture department also plans to counter the Centre’s move by bringing in agriculture cooperative societies and self help groups on a big scale. The minister said the Bills had been brought at a time when lakhs of farmers were committing suicide across the country due to agrarian crisis .
The Left parties in Kerala along with many unions and organizations working in the agriculture sector have expressed solidarity with the nationwide agitation called by Kisan Coordination Committee on September 25.