Raipur (Chhattisgarh): The Congress government in Chhattisgarh is set to hold a special assembly session and pass a law to ensure that farmers in the state are not affected by the new farm laws of the Centre.
According to reports, a new bill is being readied to be introduced in the Chhattisgarh Assembly.
The state agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey earlier this week said that the government is planning to hold the special Assembly session before Diwali.
"The Congress government in Chhattisgarh will ensure the best interests of farmers. We will frame new agriculture laws resorting by calling a special session of the House," he had said.
Chhattisgarh agriculture minister Ravindra Choubey However, the Union Minister of the State for Agriculture Sanjeev Kumar Balyan clearly stated that the state government has no right to enact any law against the Centre's Act.
On a query that the Bhupesh Baghel-led Chhattisgarh government has been working on enacting a law to bypass the three Central farm laws, the minister had said, "The state government does not have the right to bring a bill (against these laws)."
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"Interstate movement of agriculture produce is in the Union list and intra-state movement is in concurrent list...the state government does not have the right to make a law in this regard. However, it has the right to do politics. Chhattisgarh chief minister has been doing politics," he said.
Speaking to ETV Bharat over the issue, senior administrative officer BKS Ray opined that such a tussle between the Centre and the state will not be in the best interests of the farmers.
"I have also studied that there is no right of the state to bring any new law against the law passed by the central government. But at present, such instances are evident everywhere wherein the Central government's law is being opposed at the state level, which is not right," he said.
Meanwhile, Parliamentary affairs expert Dr Sushil Trivedi said that whether Chhattisgarh's laws will actually bring any reform will only be known after the Bills are introduced.
"But at least it is certain that the law brought by the central government cannot be twisted further. That law will remain, and it cannot be further amended. However, the Mandi Act comes under the jurisdiction of the state government, and by improving the existing Act, farmers can be given some relief," he said.
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