PATNA: CM Nitish Kumar on Monday advocated for a dialogue between the Centre and the agitating farmers of Punjab and Haryana assembled on the outskirts of Delhi. He said the ongoing protests were due to “unreasonable misconceptions” being created among the farmers.
“The Centre wants to talk to farmers to dispel their apprehensions about procurement mechanisms. Once there is dialogue, the farmers will get correct information about the farm bills. The Centre should also tell farmers that there will be no problem in procurement of agricultural produce and they will get the fixed prices. I believe dialogue should take place to end unreasonable misconceptions created among the farmers,” Nitish said after inaugurating the 12.27km-long AIIMS-Digha elevated corridor in Patna.
Nitish also asserted that there would be no problem in procurement of agriculture produces of farmers due to the new farm Acts. He said the Bihar government made a similar arrangement in 2006 after abolishing the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act. “Bihar is an example. The state government abolished the APMC Act in 2006 in the larger interest of farmers. Now, similar arrangements are being made across the country through the farm laws. When Bihar abolished the APMC Act, no new problems arose. The state government began procurement of agriculture produce through the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS). This year, too, the state government has fixed a target of procuring more than 30 lakh metric tonnes of farm produce,” Nitish said.
Farmers have been protesting at various places in Delhi and Haryana and have rejected the central government’s offer to hold talks on December 3, saying “imposing conditions for starting a dialogue is an insult to them.”
Around 32 farmer organizations, mostly from Punjab, and a few from Gujarat and Maharashtra also managed to reach Delhi and assembled at the border to continue with their protests.
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.