Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (September 18) reached out to the farmers and assured them that the farm reforms will provide them with new opportunities to sell their produce and will increase their profits.
The historic “Farm Bill” was passed by the lower house the Lok Sabha, and the PM was very blunt when said, “People who ruled this country for decades and were in power.. such people are trying to mislead farmers. They are telling lies to farmers,”.
The Modi government passed the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 on Thursday, (September 17) and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed on Tuesday, (September 15).
However, the the passing of these bill has strained the relations between the BJP government and its coalition partner Shiromani Akali Dal with the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigning from the cabinet calling the three bills as “anti-farmers”.
Modi’s reply in support of the farm bill was that these laws will liberate the farmers by allowing them to sell their produce anywhere by negotiating a better price. The PM said, “Farmers have been given new independence in agriculture. They’ll now have more options and opportunities to sell their produce. I congratulate them on the passage of these bills. It was necessary to bring such laws to protect them from middlemen”.
मैं देश के किसानों को स्पष्ट संदेश देना चाहता हूं। आप किसी भी भ्रम में मत पड़िए।
जो लोग किसानों की रक्षा का ढिंढोरा पीट रहे हैं, दरअसल वे किसानों को अनेक बंधनों में जकड़कर रखना चाहते हैं।
वे बिचौलियों का साथ दे रहे हैं, वे किसानों की कमाई लूटने वालों का साथ दे रहे हैं। pic.twitter.com/dZlnxV591F
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 18, 2020
He further added, “Fake news is also being spread that wheat and rice etc. will not be procured by government agencies from farmers. This is an absolute lie, completely wrong and an attempt to cheat farmers,”.
While referring to the new farm Bills, PM Modi further “Any person can sell his product anywhere in the world, wherever he wants. But only my farmer brothers and sisters were denied Now, with the new provisions in force, the farmer can sell his crop in any market of the country, at his desired price”.
The opposition party led by the Indian National Congress were the most vocal critic of this bill. However, their opposition to the bill was exposed by former party spokesperson Sanjay Jha, who tweeted,”Folks, in our Congress Manifesto for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, we had ourselves proposed abolition of APMC Act. and making agricultural produce free from restrictions. This is what the Modi government has done in the farmers’ bills. BJP and Congress are on the same page here”.
“Opening up the national market for farmers is a sensible move to give greater control over fair to attractive remuneration; less middlemen will boost farmer profitability. Protection against corporate exploitation can be built-in, as an assured MSP. Prima facie, welcome step!” he further added.
At last PM Modi said “I want to convey you (farmers) that you should not be misled by anyone…some people are lying to farmers… they’re supporters of brokers”,
“These agricultural reforms will provide new avenues to farmers to increase their profits…agriculture sector will benefit from modern technology and our farmers will be empowered”., PM Modi said.