Farmers Movement Archive

Gurugram MP lauds new farm bills, criticises the opposition

Gurugram member of Parliament (MP) and union minister Rao Inderjit Singh on Thursday said that the three farm bills passed by the Central government on September 20 were aimed at helping the farmers by allowing them to sell their produce in open markets and across the country without any hindrance. Singh said that the purpose of these bills was to ensure that income of farmers is augmented and they are able to get better prices for their produce. Singh, who is union minister of state for statistics, was speaking at a press conference in Gurugram on Thursday. He said that opposition parties were falsely creating the an impression that these decisions will eliminate the MSP (minimum support price) system and agriculture mandis (markets) across the country. He also said that only six per cent of the farming households have been able to get benefit from the MSP system. “These farm bills enable the farmers to sell their produce across the country and it allows them to sell their produce wherever they want. It will help them to get better prices. The opposition parties, particularly the Congress, are trying to take advantage of the situation. But this should not happen at the cost of the society and nation. We must rise above petty interests,” said Singh. Singh said that the BJP government has increased the allocation for agriculture in the Union budget from 8.5 percent to 38.8 per cent. This is a clear indication that interests of the farmers won’t be hurt. Farmers in several states have been protesting against the three bills that got the President’s assent last Sunday.Taking a dig at the opposition parties, Singh said that eliminating the Agriculture Price Market Committee was part of the Congress party’s manifesto of 2019 and the opposition parties were taking an opportunistic view of the current situation. “The politics on this issue should not hurt the interests of the common man and the farmers. I left the Congress party because of its failures on these issues,” he said. Singh said that the ownership of the farmers’ land cannot be compromised in case of contract farming. “As far as Swaminathan recommendations are concerned, the BJP government has raised the MSP prices of various crops by more that 50 percent of the cost. It is to be noted that Congress government in 2007 had refused to implement these recommendations,” he said.Gurugram MLA Sudhir Singla and district BJP president Gargi Kakkar were also present on the occasion. Senior Congress leader and former state minister Captain (Retd) Ajay Singh Yadav said that the three farm bills brought by Union government will destroy the future of Indian agriculture. The government is aiming to bring agriculture under the control of private and corporate sector. “The Gurugram MP and the BJP will have to bear the consequences of such disastrous policies. The people of the state will give a befitting reply when the time comes,” he said.

Hindustan Times

01-10-2020

Gurugram