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New Delhi: Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on Friday 19 November announced that his Government has decided to withdraw all three agricultural laws. In the Parliament session starting later this month, the Government will complete the constitutional process to repeal the three agricultural laws.

The PM was addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. He expressed happiness that after a gap of one and a half years, the Kartarpur Sabih Corridor has now reopened.

The Prime Minister said “I have seen the challenges of the farmers very closely in my five decades of public life, that is why, when I was given the opportunity to serve the country as Prime Minister in 2014, we gave the highest priority to agriculture development and farmer welfare”.

The Prime Minister said that four prong measures of seeds, insurance, market and savings were taken to ameliorate the conditions of farmers. Along with good quality seeds, the government also connected the farmers with facilities like neem coated urea, soil health card and micro irrigation, he said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that many initiatives have been taken for the farmers to get the right price for their produce in return for their hard work. The country has strengthened its rural market infrastructure. “We not only increased the MSP, but also created a record number of government procurement centers. The procurement of the produce made by our government has broken the records of the last several decades”, he said.

The Prime Minister said in his Government’s great campaign to improve the condition of the farmers, three agricultural laws were brought in the country. The objective was that the farmers of the country, especially small farmers should be strengthened, they should get the right price for their produce and maximum options to sell the produce.

The Prime Minister said for years, farmers of the country, agricultural experts of the country and farmers’ organizations of the country were continuously making this demand. Earlier also many governments had brainstormed on this. This time also there was discussion in Parliament, brainstorming took place and these laws were brought up. In every nook and corner of the country, many farmers’ organizations welcomed and supported it. The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the organizations, farmers and individuals who supported the move.

The Prime Minister said that the Government brought these laws for the welfare of farmers, specially small farmers, in the interest of the agriculture sector, for a bright future of ‘gaanv-gareeb’ – village-poor, with full integrity, clear conscience and dedication towards farmers. He continued, “such a sacred thing, absolutely pure, a matter of farmers’ interest, we could not explain to some farmers despite our efforts.

Agricultural economists, scientists, progressive farmers also tried their best to make them understand the importance of agricultural laws”.

In the spirit of holy Gurupurab the Prime Minister said that today is not the day for blaming anyone but a day to rededicate to working for the welfare of the farmers.

The Prime Minister announced an important initiative for the agriculture sector. He announced the formation of a committee to promote zero budgeting based agriculture, to change crop pattern as per the changing needs of the country and to make MSP more effective and transparent. The Committee will have representatives of the central government, state governments, farmers, agricultural scientists, and agricultural economists.

Postscript: A post on social media perfectly sums up the issue.

We quote: “Modis repeal of 3 laws was Mary Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake” moment. If the farmers want to live on govt handouts and behave like destitute and don’t have any self-respect, vision or will to compete at global level its their choice. When one was in school 70% economy was agrarian now its just shy of 30%. As far as one goes farming is an activity that can be fully automated. The 20cr farmers who do not understand this are just putting their and their families future in peril.”