At a time when Opposition parties and a section of farmers have opposed the farm Bills, experts and academicians associated with farm sectors have praised the Modi Government for bringing the new legislations saying they will benefit the farmers as well as industries in future.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, met policy experts, industry leaders and academicians associated with the agriculture sector and they were all praise for the new legislation. In a separate meeting, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also reached out to scientists, professors and senior professionals from the farm sector in Congress-ruled Punjab to clear misgivings about new farm laws.
The Modi Government has assigned several Ministers to meet farmers’ organisations and others associated with agriculture to dispel their apprehensions. In Punjab, the BJP’s ally SAD, which left the Government in protest against the farm laws, has been agitating while farmers’ organisations have blocked railway tracks since September 24.
After his interaction with Singh and Tomar, chairman of Global Food and Retail Council Rakesh Gambhir said it was a good discussion and praised the Government. “In a way these three farm Bills will usher a new era of reforms in the agriculture sector and will give farmers’ independence from the clutches of the middle men and help in getting them better prices for their produce,” Gambhir told reporters.
Echoing similar sentiments, chairman of Punjab-based Green Valley Farms RPS Gandhi said there are enormous benefits of the new farm-related legislation but the farmers need to be made aware and educated about it. He said talking to the farmers in their own language is important so that there is no confusion about these three Bills.
“These Acts give freedom to farmers to sell their produce anywhere. They can sell it even at small mandis, set up by Farmer Producer Orgs (FPOs) and can get a good rate without paying mandi fee,” Sanjeev Chadha, MD, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd said.
National Seed Association of India (NSAI) president M Prabhakar Rao said the farm laws will boost the development of seed industry. It will benefit lakhs of farmers involved in the seed industry, they are happy with the decision.
Chairman of Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture M J Khan who was present in all the meetings held so far said in a way it is a dialogue process between farmers, key stakeholders in the agriculture sector and the Centre to clear any apprehensions and misgivings about the farm bills. The meetings with a number of stakeholders in the agriculture sector are being held at Singh’s residence.
In his meeting with scientists, professors and senior professionals from the farm sector, Puri said the reforms will even benefit “arthiyas” (commission agents) and also asserted that the MSP regime will stay.