The Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association that is not affiliated to any political party has urged the Centre to amend the Seeds Act, 1966.
In a resolution passed at the monthly meeting recently, the farmers said that officials in charge of checking the quality of seeds sold at shops were unable to do so as shopkeepers escaped inspection citing loopholes in the law.
The Association said that the law at present exempted inspection of shops that stocked less than 3 kg. The prescription was reasonable as at the time of enactment of the law in 1966, seeds were being sold in kilograms.
But now that the shops sold seeds in packets of a gram or 10 g, the law should be amended to include for inspection all shops selling seeds.
This way, even those shops that stocked less than three kg would be brought under the ambit of seed inspection officers, it reasoned.
It also urged the Central Government to enact a law to nullify or reverse the decision of the Supreme Court in the GAIL pipeline case.
Citing the law Parliament passed in the Shah Bano case, it said that the government should table a Bill in Parliament to empower the State Governments to order that the gas pipeline should not be buried on farmers’ lands. And, the government should draft the bill so that it had retrospective effect.
The Association extended its support to those who staged fast seeking implementation of the Avinashi Athikadavu scheme, urged the State Government to fund panchayats so that they could take up maintenance of check dams and ponds, and condemned the diversionary approach of people manning phones at the farmers’ call centre.
The law at present exempted inspection of shops that stocked less than 3 kg.
In a resolution passed at the monthly meeting recently, the farmers said that officials in charge of checking the quality of seeds sold at shops were unable to do so as shopkeepers escaped inspection citing loopholes in the law.
The Association said that the law at present exempted inspection of shops that stocked less than 3 kg. The prescription was reasonable as at the time of enactment of the law in 1966, seeds were being sold in kilograms.
But now that the shops sold seeds in packets of a gram or 10 g, the law should be amended to include for inspection all shops selling seeds.
This way, even those shops that stocked less than three kg would be brought under the ambit of seed inspection officers, it reasoned.
It also urged the Central Government to enact a law to nullify or reverse the decision of the Supreme Court in the GAIL pipeline case.
Citing the law Parliament passed in the Shah Bano case, it said that the government should table a Bill in Parliament to empower the State Governments to order that the gas pipeline should not be buried on farmers’ lands. And, the government should draft the bill so that it had retrospective effect.
The Association extended its support to those who staged fast seeking implementation of the Avinashi Athikadavu scheme, urged the State Government to fund panchayats so that they could take up maintenance of check dams and ponds, and condemned the diversionary approach of people manning phones at the farmers’ call centre.
The law at present exempted inspection of shops that stocked less than 3 kg.