Bengal to pass resolution against farm laws in Assembly
Kolkata: The Bengal government is going to pass a resolution protesting against the three contentious farm laws in a special Assembly session that will be held shortly.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said: "The state Assembly is going to be held for two to three days. A resolution will be passed against the three farm laws that have taken away all the rights of farmers and pushed the entire agro-based trade in the hands of monopolists. I am hopeful that members of all political parties will support the resolution apart from the BJP."
This comes on the day when even the seventh round of talks between the protesting farmers' unions and the Centre ended inconclusively with the former remaining stuck to their demands of repealing the laws.
In reply to a question in connection with the farmers' agitation at Singhu border, Banerjee said at Nabanna Sabhaghar: "I am totally in favour of the protest. There is a political intention behind not repealing the laws as huge storehouses were constructed (by a group of companies) even before the contentious farm Bills were introduced."
Banerjee further maintained that the state government has also asked the Centre to share the data of 21.79 lakh farmers from Bengal, as claimed by the Centre, who have registered at the central portal for the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the reason being the Centre wanting to verify their details before transferring the benefits directly to them.
"I had urged the Centre even during a telephonic conversation with Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar to transfer the funds to the state government. But they want to go for direct transfer of benefit, skipping the state, and want us to verify details of the 21.7 lakh farmers. They are registered in the Central server. So verification would not be possible unless they share their data with the state," Banerjee said, adding that she realised that the Centre was trying to politicise the matter and it should not be the cause of farmers' sufferings as she wants them to get the benefits in addition to that of the state's Krishak Bandhu scheme under which around 70 lakh farmers will be brought in.
Taking a dig at the Centre for abolishing the Planning Commission to introduce Niti Aayog, Banerjee announced the setting up a state-level planning commission in the lines of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's vision. Suggestions of Nobel laureates Prof. Amartya Sen and Prof. Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee will be taken in this regard.
Besides announcing a series of programmes for the year-long celebration of the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji, she once again demanded his birthday on January 23 to be declared as a national holiday and declassification of files as people have the right to know the actual facts about him.
