Share success stories to counter lies: PM Modi to farmers

NEW DELHI:  In an interaction with seven farmers on Friday, the Prime Minister sought to address concerns that big private firms and corporate might grab their land under a new contract farming law enacted by the Centre.

While interacting with the farmers, the PM had one common query — “Is your land also taken away by the private buyers?”. All the farmers answered in a resounding “no” and listed out the benefits of the new agri laws — exactly what the central government and the BJP have been harping on.

“Some of the politicians are seeking to impose their ideologies on the farmers,” the PM told the farmers while listening to their success stories. “Lies are being spread. When people like you talk, there will be confidence in others that no one will lose land, only crops are sold.”

Modi sought to know from Manoj Patidar, a small farmer from MP, his experiences of the new farm laws. “Due to the new farm laws, we have got alternatives to sell our produce, which are tested in our presence and full details shared on the spot. We are given rates for the produce a day before testing, and the payments are made the same day,” Patidar is reported to have told him.

Ram Gulab from UP told Modi that he brought together 300 small farmers to form Farmers’ Producers Organisation, which has entered into an agreement with a company from Ahmedabad and fetched almost double prices for various produce. M Subramani from Tamil Nadu said he was able to earn an additional Rs 1 lakh by growing tomatoes and roses and selling them to the private traders.

Ganesh Rajendra Bhonsale from Maharashtra said he had received a compensation of Rs 54,000 after his crops were damaged by heavy rains under PM Fasal Bima Yojna, for which he had paid a premium of about Rs 2,500. Farmers from Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh also shared their success stories with the PM. The farmers said they were utilising the money from the PM Kisan Nidhi scheme to buy seeds, pest control and fertilizers.

GOVT treating farmers with cruelty: cong

The Congress attacked the PM saying he didn’t have courage to talk face-to-face with agitating farmers and is busy giving “clarifications on television” while his ministers are hiding behind the smokescreen of letters. Accusing the Centre of treating the farmers with “cruelty and apathy”, Congress media in-charge RS Surjewala said the BJP is branding them as “terrorists, parasite, tukde-tukde gang, misguided gang, khalistani and misguided lot”.

The party said it’s shameful that the agriculture minister has gone to the extent of calling them political puppets. Instead of inventing excuses and indulging in event management, the Modi government should apologise to the farmers and withdraw these “black laws”, he said.

Surjewala said despite tall promises made to farmers, the truth was that not all farmer beneficiaries had been credited the amount under the PM-KISAN. “As per the 2015-16 agriculture census, 14.64 crore farmers undertake cultivation on 15.78 crore hectares. The Modi government launched the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna in December 2018 in which it was stated that Rs 6,000 will be deposited into the accounts of all farmers in three installments,” he said.