Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consulted with farmers and that the Centre was devoted to their welfare, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday said only farmers in Punjab are opposing the Centre’s three new agricultural laws.
Addressing news persons, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, said, “The reforms were made as per the demands of the farmers after discussion for nearly 20 years. The first discussion started during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime; continued during the UPA regime and was fulfilled during the Modi regime. The opposition is bankrupt on these issues.”
The real demand of farmers in the past 40 years was remunerative prices. There was an issue of how to decide remunerative prices for which noted agriculturalist MS Swaminathan gave the answer – it should be cost plus 50 per cent. However, the DMK-Congress alliance in the UPA did not accept his recommendations for eight long years. But the Modi government accepted it. The Minimum Support Price (MSP) has risen phenomenally, he explained.
In the past 4-5 years, where MSP has been provided, farmers’ income has doubled. The Centre has made it clear that MSP and the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee will stay. But at the same time, farmers must have a right they were demanding for the last 40 years – freedom to sell to anybody who gives higher price. It should be the right of the farmer. This is what the Modi government is giving, he said.
“Under the Kisan Saman Yojna, with the help of the technology, within two hours 9 crore farmers have received ₹2,000 in their bank accounts. For the next 10 years, the government is planning to give ₹77 lakh crore. Under the Fasal Bima Yojna, nearly 6 crore farmers have received compensation,” he added.
TN Assembly elections
On politics, Javadekar said “I am very confident that in Tamil Nadu elections, the NDA will have a stellar performance. Many parties have family in politics, while our party is a family,” he added.
In the last four months, the BJP’s electoral performance has been rising in Bihar, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh, Bodoland, Gujarat, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, he said.