A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: "The opposition parties, especially Congress and a few other political parties of the nation, have misled the common people with various baseless apprehensions regarding the merits of the three new agriculture acts, viz- 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. The fact is that the government at the Centre has adopted many public-friendly policies in order to ensure all-round development of the nation. As part of such visionary activities, the BJP government has taken a historic move to increase the farmers' earning by amending the old agriculture acts. The new agriculture acts will safeguard the interests and rights of the farmer community."
This statement was made by Phanidhar Baruah, the Lakhimpur district unit president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), at a press meet organized at North Lakhimpur Press Club on Monday. The press meet was convened by Lakhimpur district units of BJP and Kishan Morcha in order to counter the alleged 'propagation' and 'apprehensions' regarding the new agriculture acts which were recently adopted.
Highlighting the merits of the acts, the district BJP president said that the acts would transform the agriculture sector and they would bring drastic change in the conditions of the farmers.
"The provisions of the new agriculture acts attempt to wipe out the traditional markets of the agro-products which have been under the control of certain lobbies based in Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana and that is why the lobbies are trying to mislead the people," Phanidhar Baruah further stated.
On the other hand, the president of the Lakhimpur district unit of Kishan Morcha, Pramen Bhuyan stated that the new agriculture acts would also make the farmers' income double by 2022.
"The new acts will make the farmers independent of government-controlled markets and fetch them a better price for their produce. Further, the acts also encourage intra-State trade and propose to reduce the cost of transportation. They will formulate a framework on the agreements that enable farmers to engage with agri-business companies, retailers, exporters for service and sale of produce while giving the farmer access to modern technology. They will also provide benefits for the small and marginal farmers with less than five hectares of land," the district Kishan Morcha president added.
In connection, he asserted that the new agriculture acts would not impact the Minimum Support Price (MSP) as it was apprehended because the government would fulfill all its commitments to improve the condition of the farmers.
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