RAMPUR: Senior BJP leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said the Modi government is committed to the protection and promotion of farmers and there is "no commission, cut and corruption" in the farm sector under the ruling dispensation. Addressing farmers, Naqvi said the empowerment of villages, farmers and poor people is the priority of the Modi government.
His speech, part of the BJP's nationwide outreach to farmers, was made on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi transferred Rs 18,000 cr to over nine crore farmers and addressed them.
Naqvi said "failed political players" who have been rejected repeatedly by people are acting under their "depression of defeat" and conspiring to create fear among the farmers, according to a statement.
He said some political parties, which have been completely rejected by people, are unable to digest the "historic" agriculture reform Acts brought by the government.
"They are inflicting injuries on farmers' interests with their deceit in an effort to make their barren political landscape fertile again," he said.
The Modi government is sensitive about the demands made by farmers and has addressed their main concerns in a transparent manner, the statement said.
The government has given "100 per cent guarantee on the issues of the minimum support price, mandis and protection of farmers' land", and most of the farmers have appreciated this, the minister said.
Claiming that the Modi government has taken historic measures for farmers' welfare, he said the budget allocation for the agriculture sector has been increased from Rs 21,933 crore in 2013-14, when the UPA was in power, to Rs 1,34,399 crore in 2020-21.
Soil health cards have been given to 22.57 crore farmers and more than Rs 96,000 crore has been given to the farmers under the 'Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi' so far, he said.
The farm reform laws will give farmers the freedom to decide the price of their produce and if a farmer is not satisfied by the contract offered by a private player, he can cancel it, the minister said.
Naqvi said farmers will now get new opportunities to sell their produce, which will increase their profits. This will give the agriculture sector the benefit of modern technology and farmers will be empowered, he added.