Failed to explain benefits of farm laws to some farmers of nation: Tomar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers but the government failed to explain the benefits of the central farm laws to some farmers of the nation, said Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday.

Speaking to ANI, Tomar said, “Prime Minister had brought the three Bills that were passed by the Parliament. They would have benefitted farmers. Prime Minister’s clear intention was to bring revolutionary changes in the lives of farmers. But I am pained that we failed to explain benefits to some farmers of the nation.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tried to bring changes in agriculture with these reforms. But due to some situations, some farmers objected. When we took path of discussions and tried to explain to them, we could not succeed. So on Prakash Parv, Prime Minister decided to repeal farm laws. It is a welcome step,” he stated.

The union minister emphasised that the government is committed to the welfare of farmers and the development of the agricultural sector.

“The nation has witnessed the fact that ever since Prime Minister Modi took charge in 2014, the commitment of the government has been for farmers and agriculture. As a result, in the last seven years, many new schemes benefitting agriculture were initiated. Prime Minister also said that a committee will be formed on Zero Budget Farming, Minimum Support Price (MSP) and crop diversification issues,” he said.

Tomar said that the committee will include representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists and economists.

In a major move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced the repealing of the three Central farm laws. Farmers have been protesting the Centre’s three farm laws since they were passed in 2020.

The three farm laws are — The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act provides for setting up a mechanism allowing the farmers to sell their farm produces outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs).

Any licence-holder trader can buy the produce from the farmers at mutually agreed prices. This trade of farm produces will be free of mandi tax imposed by the state governments.The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act allows farmers to do contract farming and market their produces freely.

The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act is an amendment to the existing Essential Commodities Act.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor