Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked Opposition parties on Friday, saying they are misleading the farming community on the minimum support price (MSP) issue. He also claimed that the NDA Government is doing what “they” themselves promised in their manifestos, referring to the Congress.
“There are people who had ruled the country but are now at- tempting to confuse the farmers on this subject. They are spreading lies about these Bills. They are propagating that the benefit of MSP will not be given to the farmers by the government. It is also being said by them that the government will not buy paddy- wheat, etc, from farmers. This is a lie. Farmers of the country have to be careful of these people. They should be wary of those who ruled the country for decades and are now lying to them,” PM Modi said.
He assured the farming community that MSP and government procurement of their produce will continue along with several other options for them. “I congratulate the farmers of the country for agrarian reform Bills that have been passed in the Lok Sabha. These will help farmers to get rid of the middlemen who take large prices of their produce while delivering it to the customers. These Bills will act as a shield for the farmers,” he said while addressing an inaugural programme of “Kosi Rail Mahasetu” in poll-bound Bihar.
PM Modi said the Bills were “necessary” to safeguard the farmers from middlemen. “Farmers are now given new in- dependence in agriculture. Now, they will have more options and opportunities to sell their produce. It was necessary to bring these Bills to protect them from middlemen. These are farmers’ shields,” he said in a virtual message after inaugurating the Kosi mega bridge.
In an apparent dig at the Congress party, he said that those who ruled India for decades are now “lying” to farmers. He also said that those who are objecting about the Bill promised to remove the contentious APMC Act in their election manifestos.
He also cited an example of how Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had got rid of the same Act. He promised that the government will continue to buy farmers’ produce. Modi also asserted that the claim that MSP benefit will no longer be given is “fiction”. “This is a blatant lie, wrong, a betrayal with our farmers,” remarked PM Modi.
He added, “Our government is committed to provide the right price to our farmers through MSP. We were [committed] before, we are today and we will continue to remain in future,” announced PM Modi.
This assertive clarification by the Prime Minister comes just a day after the resignation of Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Cabinet protesting against the farm-related Bills. The Modi government brought three major Bills related to the agricultural sector while the Opposition protested their introduction. The first Bill is the Essential Commodities Act while the second one is on Farm Produced and Trade (Promotion and Facilitation) which allows everyone to buy and sell agricultural products. The third bill is on Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services which legitimates contract based farming.
With Agency Inputs