Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar said on Thursday that the government is ready to hold talks with farmers to end the stalemate on farm laws. At a press conference, he also reiterated that the new laws passed by Parliament in September will benefit farmers. He also urged farmers to review the proposed amendments that the government plans to incorporate into farm laws and set a date for discussion. “The government is ready for discussion,” Tomar said as well.
“I urge the unions to set a date for the discussion; we’re ready to listen, ”Tomar said.
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Tomar assured farmers that the new laws will not affect the APMC Law or the mechanism of minimum support prices (MSP).
“We sent a proposal to the farmers, but they wanted the laws repealed. We are of the position that the government is ready for open-minded discussions about the provisions against which they have an objection. The laws do not affect the APMC or the MSP. We try to explain this to the farmers. “
“The MSP has nothing to do with these laws. They do not affect the MSP at all. PM had explained and assured the farmers that MSP will continue, ”Tomar said as well.
Tomar, further reiterating the Center’s position, said laws were passed in an effort to free farmers from the Mandi system and allow them to sell their crops off the market.
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The minister also tried to allay farmers’ fears.
“Farmers’ land is projected to be occupied by industrialists. Contract farming has been going on for a long time in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, but there has never been such an experience, ”Tomar said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who was also present at the briefing, said: “The Modi government was, is and will continue to be committed to the country’s farmers.”
Goyal also said that there is no obligation for farmers, they are being given the option to sell their products.
The speech comes a day after the government sent a draft proposed amendment to farmers as it sought to solve the problem of farm laws, enacted in September this year. However, the farmers rejected the proposal and stood firm in their demand to repeal the laws.
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