Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar speaks in Rajya Sabha
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday slammed the Congress and other opposition parties for spreading lies over the new farm laws. Speaking on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, Tomar said that the new farm laws will bring revolutionary changes in the life of farmers by increasing their income. He urged the farmer unions to tell the government about the flaws in the laws.
"Farmers are being misled that others would occupy their land if these laws are implemented. Let me know if there is a single provision in Contract Farming law which allows any trader to snatch away the land of any farmer," he said.
"I made it clear that if government is ready to make amendments, it doesn't mean there is any problem in farm laws. People in a particular state are misinformed," the Minister added.
Tomar said that the government's focus is to bring positive change in farmers' lives. "Who would have thought that fruits and vegetables will be transported by rail? 100 Kisan Rails, that are in a way mobile cold storage, have been started. They are helping farmers get fair price of their produce," the Agriculture minister said.
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"We have started to provide MSP, 50% more than the production cost. Also, Rs 1 lakh crore agriculture infrastructure fund has been given under Atmanirbhar package. We have tried to ensure the requisite investment reaches the agriculture sector," he said.
"Our efforts are that farmers' incomes are doubled and contribution of agriculture to GDP increases rapidly. These agriculture laws are also an important step in this direction. I want to tell his House and farmers that PM Modi is committed towards welfare of farmers," he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to speak in the Rajya Sabha on Monday during the motion of thanks to the President's address. He may reply to all the concerns and questions raised by opposition leaders over the farm laws in his address.
This year, the Budget session of Parliament has witnessed massive pandemonium owing to the impasse over the three farm laws.
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Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi's borders for over two months demanding rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Farmers are opposing the laws, terming them against their interest as it will dismantle the mandi system and the MSP structure. Besides, they believe that the laws will give power to corporates over their lands.
However, the the three laws -- enacted in September 2020, have been projected by the Central government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. The government has repeatedly assured the farmers that these three laws will not do away with MSP and mandis.
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