Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Thursday urged the BJP members to explain the benefits of the three farm laws enacted by the Central government to farmers in each village.
Queried by the media in Salem about the farmers’ protests against the three farm laws, Palaniswami said: “I am explaining that. What to do. The BJP brothers should explain, they should visit village after village. Most of the villagers don’t know what is happening.”
Palaniswami also said the farmers in Tamil Nadu are welcoming the three farm laws.
He said the protests against the three farm laws are being carried out by agents and traders.
The Chief Minister said that in Assam, Punjab and Haryana, farmers have to sell their produce to the agents. The farmers have to pay a total of about 8 per cent as commission/tax to the agents, local bodies and others, he claimed.
Palaniswami said the agents get 2 per cent commission and farmers have to sell their produce to the agents. The agents and traders have joined together and put the farmers at a loss.
“As per the farm laws, if a farmer sells his produce outside the market, then no tax needs to be paid. Is this not good,” Palaniswami asked.
He said the Tamil Nadu government had passed a similar law in 2019 and the Central government has passed it now.
Palaniswami also charged the former DMK government of corruption in tenders. He said there may be a difference of 10 per cent in the final cost as compared to the tendered amount, but in the case of tenders during the DMK regime, the difference was 72 per cent.
“We have the proof, which we will submit in the court,” he said.
According to Palaniswami, three tenders were issued by the DMK government. In one, the difference was 72 per cent, in the other two it was 68 per cent and 36 per cent.
“There may be 10 per cent difference in the case of tenders floated after working out the estimate,” he said.
–IANS
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