Khattar hails ‘historic occasion’, Hooda Jr says black day

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. (File Photo)

Chief Minister M L Khattar Sunday congratulated farmers on the “historic occasion” of the passage of the farm Bills by Parliament, saying the reforms will empower them and are a step aimed at freeing peasants from the middlemen’s clutches.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear that no tinkering will be allowed so far as farmers’ interests are concerned. The MSP system will continue. Some opposition parties are indulging in opportunistic politics by spreading canards among the peasants,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.

Haryana Agriculture Minister J P Dalal asserted that the farm reforms will play an important role in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim of doubling the farmers’ income by 2022.

Dalal said some politicians have become used to indulging in petty politics in the name of farmers. He said that it would have been far better if they had read the Bills in detail before issuing their statements.

“As assured by the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the crop procurement will continue in the mandis at the MSP like before,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda called it a black day for farmers and Parliament and added that it was unfortunate that Bills of this magnitude were passed without voting and completely ignoring the objections of the farmers.

He said that “after imposition of the new law on the farmers, the next attack of the government is going to be on the public distribution system, which benefits ration card holders and is the lifeline for many Indians”. Deepender said the government has made its intent very clear “by reducing the budget of its buying agency, Food Corporation of India, this year”.

“In such a situation, the question arises whether the government is gradually pulling out from the government purchase and is going to hand over all the responsibility of procurement of the crops to the companies? If private companies will buy the entire crop, then how and why will they distribute ration to the poor families? Will the poor be stripped of their right to food,” he asked.

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