Farmers Movement Archive

Farm Acts historic and in best interest of farmers, says Nishank

Haridwar: Union education minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank said that the three farm bills (now Acts) which were recently passed by the Union government in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are “historic” and “in the best interest of farmers in the country”. He stressed that the three bills will bring about significant changes in the conditions of the farmers and “in a way liberate them”. While addressing a press conference in Haridwar on Sunday, Nishank accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of misleading farmers and creating “baseless apprehensions” in their minds. “They (Opposition) allege that if farmers enter into a contract with a company, it will usurp their land. This is not true as the contract will be for the farmers’ produce and not their land. The company will cover all risks to the farmers’ produce. Besides, if a farmer is not satisfied with a company, he will be free to sign an agreement with someone else,” Nishank said. Launching an attack on the Congress, Nishank said, “The Narendra Modi government directly transferred Rs 92,000 crore into the farmers’ bank accounts. This was unthinkable in the days of the Congress government. During his term as Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi had admitted that out of the Re 1 that the Centre sends, only 15 paise reach the beneficiaries due to middlemen.” Nishank further pointed out, “The Congress had separated a budget of Rs 12,000 crore for the farmers in 2009-10. In contrast, the Modi government kept a budget of Rs 34,000 crore for the farmers. Similarly, the BJP has kept Rs 15 lakh crore for loans to farmers as against Rs 8 lakh crore allotted by the Congress.” Last month, both Houses of Parliament had passed the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. On September 27, the President had notified all the three bills as Acts.

The Times of India

2020-10-05

Dehradun