'Take credit for farm laws but stop misleading farmers,' says PM Modi to Opposition

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed the farmers in Madhya Pradesh in an attempt to allay their fears over the newly introduced farm laws. He lashed out at the Opposition parties and accused them of misleading the farmers. He said that the parties do not have any issue with the farm laws but with the fact that they promised them but could not implement. PM Modi said that the previous governments could take the credit for the farm laws but should stop misleading the farmers. "If they want to take credit for these farm laws, they should do so, but they should stop misleading farmers on the issue by spreading lies," he said.

He spoke about minimum support price and said that the government has no intention of removing MSP. PM Modi said that the government, in fact, offers MSP of Rs 1,975 per quintal of wheat and Rs 1,870 per quintal of paddy whereas the previous government used to give Rs 1,400 and Rs 1,310 respectively.

PM Modi also invoked the Swaminathan Committee report. "If we had to remove MSP, then why would we implement the Swaminathan Commission report?" he asked. The Prime Minister said that the previous government junked the Swaminathan Commission report but his government dug it out and implemented it. PM Modi said MSP and Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mechanisms will continue even after the implementation of the new farm laws.

He also highlighted that the new laws did not come overnight. They were discussed extensively for 20-30 years. "Farm laws have not been introduced overnight. Over the last 20-30 years, central government and state governments had detailed discussions on these reforms. Agriculture experts, economists and progressive farmers have been demanding reforms," he said.

Also read: 'Farm laws not introduced overnight; were discussed extensively for 20-30 years,' says PM Modi