Farmers Movement Archive

Farm unions, Oppn failed to point out any lacuna in agri laws: Tomar in RS

NEW DELHI: The farm unions and opposition parties have failed to point out any lacuna in the three new farm laws while as many as 22 states have passed laws on contract farming, with some like Punjab providing for jail terms for defaulting farmers, said agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday. Tomar said the government's offer to amend the laws to assuage sentiments of protesting farmers did not mean they were flawed. The new laws will usher in a "revolutionary change" in the lives of farmers by increasing their incomes, said Tomar, intervening during the discussion in Rajya Sabha on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. He attacked Congress for playing around with lives, using an expression that was later expunged, saying the laws didn't have any harsh provisions like jail for farmers in the context of contract farming. Under the new laws, farmers also get the option to sell their produce outside 'mandis', with such sales not attracting any tax, unlike the state government notified market places. "The agitation should have been against the tax levied (by state governments) on sale made in 'mandis' but strangely the protests are against freeing of the system from such taxes," said Tomar, who added that the Haryana contract law was passed when Congress was in office. PM Narendra Modi is slated to reply to the marathon 15-hour discussion, which lasted over three days, on Monday. Tomar said the protests were largely limited to only one state, in a reference to Congress-governed Punjab, with farmers being misled that they would lose their land. . Slamming the opposition for instigating the protests and calling the farm laws "kala kanoon (black laws)", Tomar said he had repeatedly asked what was 'black" about the laws but neither the farmer unions, nor opposition parties could specify the shortcomings in them. The farmers are apprehensive that the new laws will lead to the dismantling of the minimum support price mechanism, with big corporations jumping in to usurp their land under the contract farming terms. Tomar said the Modi-led government is committed to the welfare of farmers and to the continuation of the MSP-based mechanism. "Our efforts are towards doubling farmers' incomes and rapidly increasing the contribution of agriculture to GDP," he said. The laws also empower farmers to exit agreements with traders, while as per the provisions of the Punjab contract farming law, a farmer can be sent to jail or face a penalty of up to Rs 5 lakh for violation of agreement, he said.

The Times of India

2021-02-06

India