Not farmers but 'farm-grabbers' may lose land: Jitendra Singh on new agri laws

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said ''farm-grabbers'' may lose land that has been illegitimately taken away from farmers and not that of the agriculturists. He refuted the false rumours that the farmers will lose ownership of their land under the new farm laws.

Participating in a special programme of PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi digitally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Nagrota panchayat in Barnoti block, the minister said misgivings were sought to be spread even in Kathua district that the ownership and registry papers of farmers will be cancelled as per the new law. "These misgivings and lies are being spread, precisely, by those who have over the years illegally or forcibly taken away the land from innocent farmers and built their mansions or commercial establishments on it," said Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel.

Instead of there being any threat to farmer's land, he clarified that on the contrary, action has been initiated to retrieve the agricultural land that is occupied by ''non-farmers'' in an unauthorised manner so that it could be restored back for agricultural purposes. The action initiated against the Roshni scam and other land scams recently is actually meant to restore back to the farmers the land ownership rights, the minister said.

''Not the farmers but the farm grabbers may lose land which has been illegitimately taken away from the farmer,'' Singh told PTI. He recalled that ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over in 2014, the central government has, one after the other, taken a series of path-breaking decisions for the benefit of farmers.

The minister described the new farm laws as democratisation of the agricultural sector and living up to the concept of one nation-one agriculture market. The young modern agricultural technocrat will now have the freedom to choose the buyer for his produce from wherever he wants and at the same time go for the best price available from wherever it is, Singh pointed out. "Jammu & Kashmir is known for its progressive agriculture sector. There is no arrangement of mandis here but even in other parts of the country, the existing APMC mandis are not going to be abolished as is being rumoured in certain quarters," Singh further said.

The recently concluded District Development Council elections in which farmers living in the panchayats across Jammu and Kashmir participated have also endorsed the pro-farmer policies of PM Modi, he said.