With opposition parties calling three bills “anti-farmers” and the BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal By resigning his government to protest against them, Prime Minister Modi refuted their criticism, saying that these laws will free farmers by allowing them to sell their products anywhere by negotiating a better price.
“Farmers have been given new independence in farming. Now they will have more options and opportunities to sell their products. I congratulate you on the approval of these bills. It was necessary to bring them to protect them from intermediaries. These are the shields of the farmers, “said the prime minister while addressing a demonstration in Bihar.
The country’s farmers are aware and can see who is on the side of the intermediaries, who “pocketed” the profits destined for them and who are opposed to the new opportunities offered to them through these measures, he said.
The Prime Minister said that Congress had also promised in its manifesto what his government has now done through these bills, as it attacked the opposition party for stoking protests against these proposed legislation.
Confronting opposition for protesting against agricultural reforms, Prime Minister Modi said that those who remained in power for decades are desperately trying to deceive farmers and lie to them about the farm bills.
The Prime Minister stated that the laws will end the role of intermediaries and the new laws will function as a protective cover (Raksha kavach) for farmers.
He stated that the MSP (Minimum Livelihood Price) will be awarded to farmers in the way it was given to them in the past.
“The opposition parties are spreading false news that the MSP will withdraw. I assure farmers that the MSP will continue in the future as it is happening today. The government will continue to buy their products, ”Modi said.
Two agricultural bills were passed on Thursday, one on agricultural market reforms and the other on contract farming provisions, while the one amending the Essential Commodities Law was passed on Tuesday.
Political parties and agricultural organizations such as the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) and the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a body that brings together several other organizations, have protested against the bills they believe are designed to help large corporations. At the expense of farmers, other groups, such as Maharashtra-based Shetkari Sanghatana, support such reforms.
Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from Modi’s government on Thursday in protest against the bill and said her party, SAD, supports farmers.
(With PTI inputs)
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