Farm bills need of 21st century, says PM Modi; assures farmers ‘ MSP will continue like before’

New Delhi: While laying the foundation stone of Rs 14,000 development works in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday assured the agricultural community that farm bills will not harm them in anyway and will rather revolutionise this sector.

“I want to assure every farmer that the system of providing minimum support price (MSP) will continue as earlier,” said PM Modi after unveiling 9 development projects in Bihar.

Prime Minister pointed out that the farming sector is in need of technological and structural upgrades and this bill will only pave the way for them to increase their yields.

PM Modi assured farmers that Centre aims to serve the farmers and build a stronger agricultural industry for future generations.

“I want to assure every farmer that the system of MSP will continue as it used to happen in the past. Likewise, as in every season, a campaign is run for buying produce by the government, that too will continue to run,” he said.

“The biggest proof of it is the figures for purchases made by the government during the past five years and the purchases made prior to five years before 2014. If I only talk about the oilseeds and pulses then the purchases by the government have increased by 24 per cent,” he added.

PM Modi said that even during the coronavirus pandemic phase there was record purchase made by the government.

“For this year’s Rabi produce, including wheat, rice, oilseeds and pulses, the farmers were paid Rs 1 lakh 13 thousand crores in MSP. This figure is thirty per cent more than last year’s,” he pointed out.

Speaking about the middlemen and their nexus, PM Modi said over the years, a strong syndicate has been reaping benefits of hard work of farmers and was now trying to instigate them against the new reforms introduced by the Centre.

Highlighting the need for eliminating middlemen, PM Modi said that for many decades farmers in India have been ‘bullied by middlemen.’

PM Modi also assured that these policies were not anti-Mandis and stated that his government was committed to their modernisation.

“The new agriculture reforms has given freedom to every farmer in the country to sell their produce anywhere. If he gets more profits in the mandi, he will sell it there. If apart from this he gets more profit anywhere else then he is not obstructed from selling them there too,” Modi said.

“The earlier system of selling the produce, the laws which existed, had kept the farmers’ hands tied. Acting under the garb of these laws such powerful groups had formed in the country which have benefitted from farmers’ misery. How long should have this allowed to go on ?” he added.

“These bills are intended to transform the sector and empower farmers to lead a better life,” PM Modi said.