New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today invited all the parties to “rise above political calculations ” and move forward for the welfare of the farmers. “Problems of agriculture should be resolved and there is a need to work for this, Modi said while replying to the motion of thanks on the President’s address, in Rajya Sabha today.
Addressing the concerns of the protesting farmers who are demanding the government to repeal the three agri laws and introduce a new legislation on Minimum Support Price, the Prime Minister proclaimed: “MSP is there, MSP was there. MSP will remain in the future. Affordable ration for the poor will continue. Mandis will be modernised.”
Tacitly referring to allegations that Khalistanis too were fuelling the ongoing farmers’ agitation, which today entered its 74th day, Modi cautioned against the forces “who are trying to destabilise the country”. He said India was very proud of the contribution of Sikhs. “This is a community that has done so much for the nation. The words and blessings of the Guru Sahibs are precious,” he said. He also insisted that attempt should be made to bridge the urban-rural divide.
Seeking to address the concerns of the farmers, Modi informed that since 2014 the Government had initiated changes in the agriculture sector aimed at empowering the farmer. The crop insurance scheme was changed to make it more farmer friendly. The PM-KISAN scheme was also brought in.
The PM stressed that the government was working for the small farmers and mentioned that farmers had got claim worth Rs. 90,000 crore under the Prime Minister Fasal Beema Yojana. “Farmers also benefitted from Kisan Credit Card, Soil Health Card and Samman Nidhi,” he said and added that when the road connectivity improves under PM Gramin Sadak Yojna, it enables the produce of the farmers to reach distant places. “There are efforts like Kisan Rail and Kisan Udan too. The need of the hour is to improve the lives of the small farmers,” he said. Pointing at 28 per cent contribution of a free dairy sector to rural economy, he asked, “Why should not they have the same freedom as dairy sector to work with private or cooperative sector?”
Modi said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was in regular touch with the agitating farmer leaders and he requested the leaders to make arrangements for the elderly farmers, who were spending night in tents with the protestors, to return home.
Watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address in Rajya Sabha on February 8, 2021, here:
The Prime Minister also took on those who were critical of democracy in India. He said Indian democracy was not a western institution but a human institution. “It is imperative to alert the countrymen about the all-round attack on Indian Nationalism,” he said. Quoting Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, he asserted, Indian nationalism was neither narrow, nor selfish or aggressive. “It is based on the notion of Satyam, Shivam Sundaram. India is not merely the world’s largest democracy. India is the ‘Mother of Democracy’ and this is our ethos. Our nation’s temperament is democratic,” he said.
– global bihari bureau
