Farmers in Punjab will soon have better protection against fake seeds. The Punjab Vidhan Sabha has passed a new law that makes selling poor-quality seeds a non-bailable offence. This means that those caught selling fake seeds will face serious consequences.
The new legislation, called the Seeds (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduces stricter penalties. For a company’s first offence, the punishment will be one to two years in jail and a fine of between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh. If a company breaks the law again, the punishment will increase to two to three years in jail and a fine of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. For individual dealers or other people involved, the first offence will mean six months to one year in jail and a fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. A repeated offence by an individual will lead to one to two years in jail and a fine of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
Before this new law, the penalties were much lighter. The fine for a first offence was only Rs 500, and for a repeated offence, it was Rs 1,000 with a jail term of up to six months. This was not enough to stop the sale of fake seeds, which caused significant losses for farmers.
Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian introduced the Bill in the House. While the new law aims to protect farmers, some members of the opposition raised concerns. Congress MLA Rana Gurjeet Singh felt the Bill did not go far enough. He suggested that the state seed certification agency should be given more power to properly check and approve seeds. This would help ensure that farmers receive genuine seeds.
Another Congress legislator, Pargat Singh, supported the idea of tougher penalties for seed fraud. However, he also pointed out that the Bill lacks measures to support farmers directly. He also raised concerns about the reduced research abilities of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and that punishments for water pollution have been reduced to just fines. These points highlight the need for a comprehensive approach to support the farming community.
In addition to the seed law, the Punjab Vidhan Sabha also approved other important Bills. One of these is the Punjab Town Improvement (Amendment) Bill, 2025. This law will help the government generate funds by selling properties owned by improvement trusts. The money raised will be used to improve infrastructure in towns and cities across Punjab. Previously, funds collected by an improvement trust could only be spent within its own area. The new amendment allows these funds to be used in any civic body within the state, which is expected to benefit 167 local government bodies.
Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa expressed worry that this amendment might allow the government to take funds from civic bodies for other purposes. However, the government believes this will provide much-needed financial resources for development projects.
Other Bills passed during the session include:
* The Punjab Apartment & Property Regulation (Amendment) Bill
* The Punjab Right to Business (Amendment) Bill
* The Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill
* The Punjab Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill
These Bills will now be sent to the Governor for final approval before they can be put into action. The new measures are expected to bring significant changes to agricultural practices and urban development in Punjab.