DHORDO (KUTCH): As the farmers’ agitation against the new central farm laws entered Day-20 with no signs of the deadlock getting resolved, PM Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the opposition of “misleading” them and said that the same political parties that have now united to “confuse” the peasants were in favour of ushering in these reforms when they were in power.
“There is a big conspiracy by opposition parties to provoke and mislead farmers and try to scare them that the new farm laws will result in their land being usurped. I reiterate that our government is ready 24-hours to clear all their doubts and concerns,” Modi said at Dhordo in Gujarat’s Kutch district, after laying the foundation stone of three projects — the world’s largest hybrid renewable energy park, a desalination plant and a milk processing plant.
The PM reiterated that the demand for farm reforms was being voiced for years and several peasant organisations had been demanding that they get an option to sell their grains anywhere as per their choice.
“The same parties who are instigating the farmers were in favour of changing the archaic agriculture laws. But they only gave false hopes to farmers then and could not usher in the reforms. But today the opposition has united to mislead the farmers,” he said.
“Does the dairy owner contracting milk purchase from you, ever take away your cattle? Does the person selling vegetables or fruits usurp land or property of the seller?”
Lauding the dairy industry’s contribution to India’s total agricultural produce, the PM said this was possible because of the freedom given to the cattle breeders to do their business. “Dairy industry accounts for 25% of India’s total agriculture sector produce in value terms and it is about Rs 8 lakh crores. This much more than the contribution of cereals and pulses,” he said.
“Today, the country is asking why the small and marginal farmers cannot be given similar freedom,” he said. Stating that the new farm laws have been brought in with “honest intention”, Modi exuded confidence that the farmers will defeat all those elements who are trying to mislead them and playing politics by using them as a tool.
“From the very first day in the office, farmers’ interests have been the top priority of the government. We have been constantly striving to see how the cost of farming can be reduced, farmers get new alternatives, their incomes rise and all their difficulties are eased,” the PM said.