PM Narendra Modi attacked the Opposition Friday for “spreading lies” and “misdirecting” farmers on the new farm bill.
Talking through video conferencing at a function to initiate new rail lines and electrification ventures in Bihar and the Kosi Rail Mahasetu, Modi stated: “A few people who managed this nation for quite a long time are endeavouring to delude farmers on this issue.”
His comments came a day after Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal of the SAD left from the government in protest against The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. In Lok Sabha, the Congress drove the Opposition attack on the Bills, calling these “draconian”.
Modi said the entry of the Bills has freed “our annadatta” ranchers from the limitations that tied them. “These changes will guarantee they get better options, more chances to sell their produce… the broker between the rancher and the customer would consistently take a huge portion of the farmer’s pay. To spare the farmer from the agent, it was important to bring these laws. These will currently be a shield (raksha kavach) for the rancher.”
Modi stated that the government is resolved to give a reasonable cost to farmers through MSP and government acquisition will proceed as in the past. With the new arrangements coming into power, he stated, farmers can reap their harvest and sell at an ideal cost in any market of the nation.