Dubbing the farmers’ decision to reject the Centre’s proposal to amend the new farm laws as “unfortunate”, Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma on Wednesday urged the protesting farmers to review their decision.
“It is unfortunate that farmer leaders have rejected the proposed amendments to the three agriculture bills,” said Sharma adding that the Centre has addressed all the major concerns about the minimum support price (MSP) and the mandi system in the proposed amendments which the “farmers should accept with grace”.
“The respect for farmers has prompted the Centre to address the issues which affected the community, and in all fairness, the protestors should have accepted the offer,” he said.
The BJP leader suggested that the farmers should withdraw their agitation in view of the offer made by the Centre.
Notably, the farmer leaders rejected the Central Government’s proposal on the three contentious agriculture-marketing laws, saying that they would intensify their agitation against the legislations with a nationwide protest on December 14.
The Centre has proposed to give a “written assurance” that the existing MSP regime for procurement will continue. It has also proposed to make necessary amendments on at least seven issues, including one to allay fears about the weakening of the mandi system.
Earlier in the day, the Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash had stted that the ongoing farmers’ protest is in favour of neither the country nor Punjab and the farmers should end the agitation and accept the Centre’s proposal “if most of their demands are met”.“If most of their demands are considered by the Centre then they should conclude the agitation,” he added.A day before, leaders of farmer unions held a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at Shah’s residence, over their demands regarding the three agricultural laws that were passed earlier in September.
The farmers are protesting against 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.