'Agriculture Bills will get rid of middlemen': PM Modi asks farmers not to be 'misled' by Opposition

NEW DELHI: Lauding the passage of three agriculture reform Bills in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said it will help farmers and the farm sector to get rid of middlemen and other bottlenecks.

The Prime Minister also slammed the Opposition for allegedly misleading the farmers and assured the farming community that minimum support price (MSP) and government procurement of their produce will continue along with several other options for them.

"I congratulate the farmers of the country for agrarian reform Bills that have been passed in the Lok Sabha. These will help farmers to get rid of the middlemen who take large prices of their produce while delivering it to the customers. These Bills will act as a shield for the farmers," he said while addressing an inaugural programme of "Kosi Rail Mahasetu" in poll-bound Bihar today.

"There are people who had ruled the country but are now attempting to confuse the farmers on this subject. They are spreading lies about these Bills. They are propagating that the benefit of MSP will not be given to the farmers by the government. It is also being said by them that the government will not buy paddy-wheat etc from farmers. This is a lie. Farmers of the country have to be careful of these people. They should be wary of those who ruled the country for decades and are now lying to them," the Prime Minister said.

"Our government is committed to providing fair prices to farmers through MSP. We have been doing this in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Also, the government procurement will continue just like before," the Prime Minister assured.

Opposition parties such as Congress, Trinamool Congress, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) have opposed these bills claiming it to be "anti-farmers." Moreover, Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal had on Thursday resigned over the passage of these Bills.

Notably, the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill have been passed in Lok Sabha yesterday. These Bills will now be tabled in the Upper House.

Farmers have been given new independence in agriculture. They'll now have more options & opportunities to sell their produce. I congratulate them on passage of Bills. It was necessary to bring these to protect them from middlemen. These are farmers' shields: PM. #AgricultureBill pic.twitter.com/c2MIJwAxK3

— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2020

(Inputs from ANI)