SMITA BHATTACHARYYA: The AJYCP burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Jorhat on Wednesday in protest against the amendment to the Essential Commodities Act.
During their protest, the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) members carried placards and shouted slogans against the PM and the central government.
The AJYCP members demanded fair prices for the farmers’ produces, decreasing the prices of essential commodities and re-implementing the minimum support price.
The president of Jorhat district unit of AJYCP, Pranab Jyoti Saikia and acting secretary Surya Kalita called for the scrapping of the amendment to the Essential Commodities Act 1955.
The Act was passed by Parliament on September 22 and was linked to the farmers’ reform bills.
In this amendment, the government removed cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities.
The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill were passed by both the houses of Parliament on Monday (September 21).
The AJYCP said the bills were pro-corporate as it opened up the agriculture sector to private players and that the farmers would not get a minimum fair price for these items from the government. Source: NE NOW
