Taking a tough stand, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Monday gave a seven-day ultimatum to Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to convene a special session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha to declare the entire State a notified mandi (Principal Market Area) and reject the Centre’s recent Acts on farm marketing as well as repeal its own amended APMC Act of 2017.
The Akali Dal, in a series of decisions taken during its core committee meeting, declared that in the event of Capt Amarinder’s refusal to convene the session, the party would gherao his residence.
The Core Committee reiterated its continued firm support to the Farmers’ Organizations fighting for the cause of the beleaguered peasantry especially with regard to the three Central Acts.
“The ultimatum to Amarinder Singh has become necessary in view of the Chief Minister’s continued refusal to take a clear stand against the anti-farmer acts of the Central Government as well as his stubborn refusal to declare the entire State a Principal Market Area where the Centre’s Acts would no longer be implementable,” said Principal Advisor to SAD president Harcharan Bains.
Bains said that SAD’s ultimatum comes in the wake of Capt Amarinder’s “daily flip flops” on the calling of the assembly session. “He has been playing hide and seek with the people and their representatives on the convening of the session, promising to call it one day and going back on it the next. The same ambivalence and evasiveness marks Capt Amarinder’s stand on the Centre’s three Acts on farm marketing,” said Bains.
He maintained that SAD wanted the Centre to make assured marketing of farmers’ crops at Minimum Support Prince (MSP) a constitutionally mandatory provision at par with the fundamental right. “The party wants the MSP be fixed as per the Swaminathan formula of 50 percent profit plus the sum total of all costs incurred by the farmers. The party also wants that the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) should be binding on the Government of India,” he added.
Meanwhile expressing serious concern at the “mishandling” of Hathras rape tragedy incident by the Uttar Pradesh Government, the Committee has asked it to ensure the victim family received justice besides taking strict exemplary action against the police officials who had cremated the body of the victim forcibly. “Such acts have no place in a democracy”, it asserted.
It was also decided that the entire organizational structure of the party would be completed by November 15.
TO MEET EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER FOR REOPENING OF KARTARPUR CORRIDOR
To ensure that the Sikh pilgrims could pay obeisance at Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan during the run up to Guru Nanak Dev’s 551st parkash purab, SAD core group also decided to take up the issue of early reopening of the Corridor with the Union External Affairs Minister soon. A party delegation will meet the External Affairs Minister in this regard, said Bains. He said that the core committee noted that restrictions had been removed on paying obeisance at all shrines across the country and even the world. Since the Pakistan Government had also acceded to reopen the Corridor, the Union Government should also give permission for the same at the earliest, the core panel noted.
SEEKS DHARAMSOT’S REMOVAL, REGISTRATION OF CRIMINAL CASE IN SC SCHOLARSHIP SCAM ISSUE
SAD core panel has also served an ultimatum to the Chief Minister to sack his SC Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot immediately for his alleged involvement in SC scholarship scam, and register a criminal case against him or be ready to face a sustained agitation on this issue.
The party noted that “despite Dharamsot’s indictment” for engineering Rs 69 crore scam involving the scholarships of SC students, the Chief Minister had not taken any action against him. “This has sent a clear message that the Congress Government does not care at all for more than three lakh children who have been affected due to Dharamsot’s corrupt practices,” said Bains.