Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in the Rajya Sabha on Monday about the farm laws, where he said his Government has always kept farmers at the centre of all their policies and schemes.
His speech conveyed that the Central Government is taking measures in agriculture sector that others (the Congress and allies) had advocated but did not have the boldness to take.
PM appeals Farmers to end protest:
He appealed to the farmers to end their protest. He assured that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will continue. “MSP was there. MSP is there. MSP will remain in the future. Affordable ration for the poor will continue. Mandis will be modernized”
Noticing that many elderly are being involved in the protest, the PM requested the farmers to end this protest and join for discussion with the Government. “We request to the protestors that agitation is fine but elderly are sitting there for protests, that’s not right.”
“We know that it’s difficult to accept change. Protests against green evolution is also well-documented. During Shashtri ji’s govt, no one was willing to become the agri minister because no one was willing to upset the farmers.”
“We amend our laws time to time. We need to move forward while incorporating new suggestions.” “We need to move forward, not backward. We need to give chance to these reforms.”
Centre and Allies working for farmers’ benefit:
“Since 2014 we have initiated changes in the agriculture sector aimed at empowering the farmer. The crop insurance scheme was changed to make it more farmer-friendly. The PM-KISAN scheme was also brought in. We are working for small farmers”,
“NDA’s other schemes also help farmers. For example- the PMGSY. When the road connectivity improves, it enables the produce of the farmers to reach distant places. There are efforts like Kisan Rail too. The need of the hour is to improve the lives of the small farmers.”
Beware of parasites ! :
Prime Minister warned that there are many parasites feasting on every agitation. He called these people as ‘Andolan Jivi’.
“ A new entity has come up in the country- ‘Andolan Jivi’. They can be spotted wherever there is a protest, be it agitation by lawyers, students, or labourers, explicitly or implicitly. They cannot live without ‘andolan’, we have to identify them & protect nation from them”