Farmers Movement Archive

Cong protests against farm bills, mandis shut

Jaipur: The Congress on Monday organised protests across Rajasthan against the contentious farm bills passed in Parliament and submitted memorandum to the district collectors. As many as 247 grain mandis in the state remained closed in protest against the bills, which after being passed in both houses of the Parliament, will now go for the President’s assent, before they are notified as laws. A Congress delegation led by the party’s state unit president Govind Singh Dotasra submitted a memorandum to the Jaipur district collector addressed to governor Kalraj Mishra. “The Centre has brought the anti-farmer bills in a hurry. The government neither discussed the bills with officials nor any opposition parties. But the Congress party will not allow injustice with the farmers,” Dotasra told reporters. With the passage of the bills, farmers will become labourers and big companies will take over their land and produce. Hoarding will be encouraged through the new law, he alleged. “As many as 2.25 crore people lost their jobs due to the Covid-19. Now the Centre is working to suppress the voice of farmers by bringing black laws,” the Rajasthan Congress chief claimed. The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, seeks to give freedom to farmers to sell their produce outside the notified APMC market yards (mandis). This, the government says, is aimed at facilitating remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, seeks to give farmers the right to enter into a contract with agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters, or large retailers for the sale of future farming produce at a pre-agreed price. It seeks to transfer the risk of market unpredictability from farmers to sponsors. Revenue minister Harish Chaudhary accused the Centre of worsening the condition of farmers. Transport minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said, “Parties have lost power whenever they attacked farmers. The Centre can get the bills passed in Parliament but cannot win the hearts of farmers.”

The Times of India

2020-09-22

Jaipur