A special session of the Rajasthan Assembly to bring in Amendment Bills against the Centre’s recent farm laws will begin here on October 31. Speaker C.P. Joshi on Saturday convened the session, which was adjourned on August 24 after the Congress government won the confidence vote on the floor of the House.
The notification for convening the session was issued after the State government made a recommendation for carrying out an “urgent legislative work”.
Official sources said the Governor's permission for reconvening the sitting was not required because the Assembly was earlier only adjourned without the formal orders for prorogation.
The Gehlot government is set to introduce the Bills, on the lines of those in Punjab, formally rejecting the new Central Farm Acts and nullifying their applicability to the State. The Assembly may also adopt a resolution against the Centre’s “rigid stand” on the issue despite strong opposition by large sections of farmers across the country.
The State Council of Ministers had earlier this week approved the proposal to bring the Bills in the Assembly, while laying emphasis on a mandatory provision for procurement of agricultural produce at minimum support prices. There may be penal provisions for those paying less than MSP as in the Punjab bills.
As many as seven crops — wheat, gram, mustard, moong, urad, soybean and groundnut — are covered under MSP in Rajasthan. The State’s proposed farm laws may also restore the powers for settlement of disputes in crop procurement to the civil courts.
The Chief Minister had recently indicated that Rajasthan would follow suit after the passage of Bills against the Central statutes in the Punjab Assembly. The Congress, which stood resolutely with the farmers, would continue to oppose the laws harming the agriculturists passed by the BJP-led government at the Centre, Mr. Gehlot had stated.