Government still open to discussion with farmers' unions
Darpan News Desk IANS, 20 Jul, 2021 11:27 AM
July 20, New Delhi (IANS) Even as the farmers continue their protest at the borders of Delhi against the three Central farm laws, the government has reiterated its stand that it is "always open to discussion with farmers' unions and will remain open to discussion with the agitating farmers to resolve the issue".
In reply to multiple questions in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday posed by various MPs, including one on 'repeal of new farm laws' by Manoj Tiwari, Adoor Prakash, Sangam Lal Gupta, Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Pradyut Bordoloi and Amar Singh, the government said the new farm laws -- The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 -- are intended to provide an ecosystem where the farmers can enjoy the freedom of choice relating to the sale of their produce which facilitates remunerative prices to the farmers through competitive alternative channels for selling their produce.
These farm laws will facilitate direct buying from the farmers by the traders, processors, exporters, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), agriculture co-operative societies etc., so as to facilitate farmers with better price realisation due to shortening of supply chain and reduction in marketing cost to enhance their income, the government said.
Farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, had barged towards the national capital in November 2020 and since then they are carrying out a sit-in protest to demand complete repeal of the three farm laws.
Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, informed the Lok Sabha that the government has engaged "actively and constantly with the agitating farmers' unions to end the protests and 11 rounds of negotiating talks have been held between the government and the agitating farmers' unions to resolve the issues".
Invoking the government's letter dated December 9, 2020 addressed to the farmers' unions that explained point by point how the concerns expressed by the farmers were being taken care of in the proposal of the government of India, Tomar said, "The government also proposed to constitute a small group consisting of representatives of farmers' unions, who can deliberate on the farm laws clause-wise in a time-bound manner and can also consider other issues related to the farmers. However, the farmers' unions never agreed to discuss, excepting for demanding their repeal."
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday favoured the need to start breeding crocodiles in the state's rivers, especially the Beas and the Sutlej, as they were found in abundance six decades ago.
Facing massive statewide agitation by farmers over power outages, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday issued directions to ensure eight-hour uninterrupted power supply and to purchase deficient power from outside the state at any cost to prevent any supply disruption in the ongoing sowing season.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, Kamal Pant, told reporters that the police teams were forced to open fire after firing warning shots in the air as the accused persons resisted the search teams' efforts to nab them.
On the occasion of Bhagat Kabir Ji Jayanti, the Chief Minister also announced that his government will soon disburse Rs 560 crore to the landless farm labourers under the Debt Waiver Scheme.
Custom officials at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here have seized 80 iPhones from two passengers arriving from Sharjah. They found the iPhones worth over Rs 1 crore while checking the luggage of the two passengers who had arrived by flight G9-458 on Wednesday.
