Nitish Kumar said the opposition was creating a “misunderstanding” over farm bills.
Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar gave vocal support to the BJP ally’s controversial agriculture bills, which created huge turmoil among farmers and drew criticism from the opposition. Breaking his self-imposed electronic media boycott, Kumar told reporters on Thursday that the nationwide farmers’ protest called Friday was “completely unnecessary.” Taking a veiled search on the opposition parties who are highlighting the issue ahead of the next national elections, he accused them of trying to create a “misunderstanding” on the issue.
Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal, who has said she “opposes the three anti-farm laws”, is planning protests outside all of its headquarters in Bihar on Friday.
Amid farmers’ concerns that not only them, but thousands of people who work in wholesale markets, arthiyas (commission agents) and farm workers will suffer because of the new laws, Nitish Kumar said the lack of kisan mandis did not harm anyone.
Reminding people that it was his government that repealed the Farm Products Market Committee (APMC) Act in 2006, he said everyone who worked there had been housed in government jobs elsewhere long ago.
Also on Tuesday, Mr. Kumar praised farm bills that allow farmers to sell their products directly to private companies. The APMC law, Mr Kumar said, has prevented farmers from selling their products all over the country.
Searching political rivals, the chief minister said, “Some people say anything about the two farm bills without knowing anything about them.”
Today, Mr Kumar said that under the current system in Bihar, purchasing has improved and it is the PACs (Primary Agricultural Credit Societies) which are the nodal agencies for the supply of food grains to farmers. , brought about the turnaround.
Opposition leader and RJD leader Tejasvi Yadav said Bihar had not been able to meet a one-year purchase target. Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh of Congress tweeted, refuting Mr Kumar’s claims of recovery.
Citing a 2019 study by the National Council of Applied Economics on the agricultural sector, Mr Ramesh said Bihar’s repeal of the APMC law has left farmers at the mercy of traders who set low prices for produce. and inadequate market facilities.
Bihar abolished the APMC law in 2006. This is one of the arguments put forward by the government to defend the 2 #FarmBills. But what exactly did this abolition bring? Here are the FACTS. pic.twitter.com/iKpIb7aayQ
– Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 24, 2020
Farmers also expressed the same concern, saying they feared being harmed by big companies. It would not be possible for the government to oversee the thousands of transactions every day, they stressed.
The opposition Congress and other like-minded parties have said the bills will benefit businesses at the expense of farmers.
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana, the states with the strongest backlash against farm bills, have planned a strike today.
No less than 31 peasant organizations have joined forces for the “Punjab Bandh”. Several organizations in Haryana, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said they had supported the nationwide strike called by some farmer organizations against the bills.
