Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the nation in his monthly programme, Mann Ki Baat, and spoke on the new farm laws, which are being protested intensely by farmers in north India, especially Punjab. PM Modi said that through these laws, the decades-long demands of farmers in the country have finally been met.
“The agricultural reforms in the past few days have opened new doors of possibilities for our farmers,” PM Modi said in his radio address. “The demands that have been made by farmers for years, that every political party, at some point or the other, have promised to fulfil, have been met,” he said.
In his speech, Prime Minister Modi said that “new dimensions” are being added to farming and allied industries. He added that these “new rights” have already begun to remove the problems of farmers, citing the example of Jitendra Bhoji, a farmer in the Dhule district of Maharashtra, whose ‘full knowledge of the laws came to his aid’. The Prime Minister narrated the instance of Bhoji, who had not received the full amount due to him for his crop of maize. “Buy the crop from the farmer, don’t pay for months. Perhaps, people had been following this practice for years,” said Modi. However, Bhoji made use of the new farm laws which enable farmers to register complaints, after which they must be given their full payment within three days. “In other words, full knowledge of the laws became Jitendra ji’s strength. Whatever the field, far away from every kind of rumour and misconception, correct information is a big aid for every person,” said PM Modi.
On the other hand, the protesting farmers have made their sentiments clear through a press release released by the farmers’ organisation. “Instead of repealing these three ‘black laws’, the government is doing its best to move the debate to where the farmers should camp… It is also seen that the force deployment all over the city is creating an atmosphere of terror and apprehension amongst the protesting farmers and even the people of Delhi,” the statement further read.
Meanwhile, in his address, the Prime Minister also reached out to the Sikh community. He noted that the 551st Prakash Parva of Guru Nanak will be celebrated on 30 November, and that his influence is visible across the world. Modi said that he had “received the opportunity” to help in the restoration of the Lakhpat Gurudwara Sahib in Kutch after it was damaged in the 2001 Bhuj earthquake.
He also referred to the opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor as a historic event. “This is our good fortune that we have the opportunity to serve Darbar Sahib again. For those Sikh brothers and sisters who live abroad, it has become easier to send donations to Darbar Sahib. With this, the global community has come closer to Darbar Sahib. It was Guru Nanak Dev ji who started the tradition of langar, and now we see how the Sikh community, all over the world, has kept up with the tradition of feeding people in the times of Covid-19,” the Prime Minister said.
He also addressed the pandemic and reminded his listeners, “Any laxity with regard to the coronavirus is very dangerous. We have to keep our fight against Covid going with firmness.”