RESOLUTION ON THE 17TH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION

Summary

This one-page English resolution, issued under the Swatantra Party heading, condemns the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution despite public protests and the Party’s efforts to prevent it. The resolution pledges renewed efforts to protect peasant proprietorship and secure repeal of the Amendment at the earliest possible opportunity.

It also distinguishes the Party’s support for land reforms that provide security of tenure and fair rents from reforms that, in its view, remove fundamental constitutional rights. The word “farm” in the typed phrase “farm rents” has been handwritten over and corrected to “fair rents.”

Key points

• The General Council deplores the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment.
• The resolution refers to public protests and the Swatantra Party’s opposition to the Amendment.
• The Party pledges to protect peasant proprietorship.
• It seeks repeal of the Amendment at the earliest possible moment.
• The Party supports land reforms providing security of tenure and fair rents.
• Such reforms must not remove fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution before the Amendment.