Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sought to allay concerns about the recently passed farm laws, citing the example of a farmer who used the new law to his advantage.
In his monthly radio broadcast, Man Ki Baat, the Prime Minister, said: “New dimensions are being added to agriculture and its related activities in India. The agricultural reforms of recent days have also opened new doors of possibilities for our farmers ”.
The prime minister said farmers’ demands from decades ago were met when Parliament passed laws aimed at liberalizing the agricultural sector after rigorous brainstorming. “These reforms have not only broken the chains of farmers, but have also given them new rights and opportunities. These rights began to mitigate the problems that farmers faced in a short period of time, ”he said.
The prime minister’s remarks came in the context of the ongoing unrest by a large portion of farmers in Punjab and Haryana, who have marched to the capital in protest against the laws.
The prime minister went on to cite the example of a Maharashtra farmer, Jitendra Bhoiji, who used one of the new laws to recover money owed to him. The prime minister said that after he could not get the amount even four months after selling his product, Bhoiji got his money back using a provision of the law that specifies that it is mandatory to pay farmers within three days of purchase. of the product.
“If the payment is not made on, the farmer can file a complaint. According to the law, there is a provision that establishes that the SDM of the area must address the farmer’s complaint within a month, ”said PM Modi.
The Prime Minister also cited the example of Mohammad Aslam in the Botton district of Rajasthan, who is raising awareness among farmers by updating them on the daily rates on local mandi. Aslam is the executive director of a federation of agricultural producers.
A third example given by the Prime Minister was that of Virendra Yadav, who returned from Australia to the Kaithal of Haryana and found a solution to grow stubble. Instead of burning stubble, which causes immense damage to air quality, Yadav has been selling the stubble to paper mills and agroenergy plants, and has made a profit in two years.
Large numbers of farmers are protesting against government measures to open up agricultural markets in the country and carry out radical reforms in the agricultural sector, which supports almost half the population.
Farmers have demanded the repeal of three laws enacted by Parliament in September that together allow agribusinesses to freely trade agricultural produce without restrictions, allow private traders to store large quantities of essential commodities for future sales, and establish new rules for contract farming.
Farmers say the reforms would make them vulnerable to exploitation by large corporations, erode their bargaining power and weaken the government’s Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, which offers growers government-guaranteed prices, mainly for wheat and rice.
Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Railways, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal held one-day negotiations on November 13 with leaders of various farmer groups in an attempt to end more than two months of politically defiant turmoil. Discussions were inconclusive, but both parties agreed to continue negotiations in the future.
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