Farmers Movement Archive

Farm bills will benefit big industrialists, traders: Raj Cong chief

Jaipur: Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra on Friday alleged discrepancies in the three farm bills passed by the Lok Sabha and said the bills have been brought in to benefit “big industrialists”. The bills, passed by the Lok Sabha, will now to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha. He claimed the bills would result in the collapse of the ‘mandi’ system and black marketing will proliferate. “The three bills will profit big industrialists. Contract and corporate farming will be the order of the day and farmers will become labourers. These bills will be a loss for the farmers and win for big businesses,” he told reporters at a press conference here. The Union government had on Monday introduced ‘The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill’, ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill’, and ‘The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill’. The Central government has argued that these measures will free farmers from the existing government-controlled markets and prices, and that they would be free to sell their produce to private parties as well if they get a better price for their produce. Dotasra alleged that the Centre did not hold discussions with farmers and brought the ordinances in a hurried manner to benefit big industrialists. He said that the NDA government in its previous tenure had made amendment in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act to acquire farmers’ land at “throw away” prices but the farmers and the Congress did not let it happen. The state Congress chief said that farmers are agitated, and the party will raise their voice. “We will be submitting a memorandum to the governor on Saturday to raise voice of the farmers as the party stands by them,” he said.

The Times of India

2020-09-19

Jaipur