By Ananya Sharma
New Delhi: While Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked at length in his “Mann Ki Baat” today about the “new dimensions” being added to agriculture and claimed the reforms in this sector had “now opened new doors of possibilities for our farmers”, thousands of farmers continued their agitation for the fourth day today in protest of the new farm laws.
Modi claimed the new laws promulgated to meet the “demands that have been made by farmers for years, that every political party, at some point or the other made the promise to fulfill…”He added: “After a lot of deliberation, the Parliament of India gave a legal form to the agricultural reforms. These reforms have not only served to unshackle our farmers but also given them new rights and opportunities.”
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The protesting farmers said they were willing for a dialogue with the government but any condition attached to these talks would be unacceptable to them.
The farmers held a meeting today at Delhi’s Singhu Border where they decided against going to Nirankari ground in Burari, where Delhi Police had allowed farmers to protest. “If the government is showing so much of concern towards us then it should arrange any ground either Pragati Maidan or Ramleela Maidan or Jantar Mantar. We are ready to go there. At the end we want MSP if the government agrees that we will go back,” Dharmendra Malik, General Secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union told globalbihari.com.
He added that “Minimum Support Price and Mandi are the two essential things that safeguard our farmers. This law is being implemented by the government for the very first time the farmers are afraid that if it gets implemented then MSP and Mandi will be fully vanished from our country and in the adverse situation of Covid how will they survive”.
Malik said the intention of political parties was just to take advantage of this issue. “One supports the issues and other party stands opposes it. This all happens in politics but we are very clear that this is totally a non-political movement. Our only motive is to the government fulfil our demand,” he reiterated.
Meanwhile, Haryana’s BJP Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar warned Punjab’s Congress CM, Amarinder Singh that if in the gathering any hazardous circumstance emerges due to Covid, the Punjab government will be answerable for it. “I attempted to address Punjab CM on this issue however he denied accepting any call. Later when I showed the proof, he was left wordless,” Khattar claimed. He further added “The language he (Amarinder Singh) used doesn’t suit a CM. We had concluded that gathering won’t be permitted because of Corona. I am surprised why the Government of Punjab permitted protest during this time.”
Singh retorted :”If he (Haryana CM) was so worried about farmers spreading Covid in Haryana whose track record in the pandemic remains extremely poor, he should not have stopped them within the State, but should have allowed them to move quickly to Delhi. A man who can disown his own farmers and even go so far as to call them Khalistanis instead of standing by them in this hour of crisis, clearly has no moral scruples about spreading lies”.
BKU’s Malik said the farmers were not afraid of Corona. “Can’t government see our genuine reason for protesting?” he asked. He took exception to the term Khalistani being used for the participants in the protest march.
To a pointed question that whether the farmers really knew about the new laws, he said: “In initial three months after the law was enacted, they observed the positive and negative part of the law.” Citing example of Uttar Pradesh where he claimed the rate of pulses was Rs. 1800 but was sold at Rs. 1200, he said there was no buying in MSP there. “Farmers know the situation and what is happening in the actual. Their crops are not sold on MSP and they are demanding that only. When they are not getting MSP, how can this law benefit the farmers? Farmers are very well aware that they are in loss,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi, though, in his radio programme, claimed that in just a short span of time, the new rights had begun to ameliorate the woes of our farmers. “You too should know how Jitendra Bhoiji, a farmer from Dhule district in Maharashtra made use of the recently promulgated farm laws. Jitendra Bhoiji had sown corn and decided to sell his produce to traders for a right price. The total cost of the produce was fixed at approximately Rupees Three Lakh thirty two thousand. Jitendra Bhoi even received an advance of Rupees twenty five thousand. It had been decided that the outstanding amount would be cleared in fifteen days. However, later such circumstances developed, that he did not receive the remainder of his payment. Buy the crop from the farmer, keep the payment pending for months on end ; probably this was the long standing tradition that the buyers of corn were following. This continued for four months wherein Jitendra ji was not paid his dues. In this situation, the new farm laws that were passed in September came to his aid. Under this law, it was decided that all dues of the farmers should be cleared within three days of procurement, failing which, the farmer can lodge a complaint. Another notable aspect of this law is that the area Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) has to ensure grievance redressal of the farmer within one month,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister said now, “with our farmer brother empowered with this law, his grievance had to be redressed”. He asserted that “correct knowledge, free from misconceptions and rumours can act as a force multiplier for every individual.
