Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about farmers on his monthly radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat' on Sunday, 29 November, amid the ongoing farmers’ protest in New Delhi. He said that the agricultural reforms has brought new opportunities to farmers, and they have bestowed new rights upon them.
Meanwhile, thousands of farmers defied tear gas, water cannons and police barricades on Friday, 27 November, to enter Delhi through the Tikri border after receiving permission to hold peaceful protests at the Nirankari Samagam Ground in Delhi’s Burari area.
'New Doors of Opportunities': PM
“Recent improvements have opened new doors of opportunities for farmers,” the PM said. “For a long time, farmers have had demands and those demands were promised to be fulfilled by political parties, those demands have been fulfilled now.”
“After a lot of thought and deliberations, the Indian Parliament gave agricultural reforms a legal basis,” he further stated.
“These reforms have not only solved many problems of farmers but have also provided them with new rights and new opportunities. These rights have, in a very short time, started reducing farmers’ problems.”PM Narendra Modi on Mann Ki Baat
PM Modi Shares Tale of Jitendra Bojhi
In speaking on the issue, the PM mentioned Jitendra Boijhi, a farmer in Maharashtra’s Dhule district, claiming that he benefited from using the new farm laws. “Jitendra produced maize in his land and decided to sell it traders at the right price. The total amount agreed upon was Rs 3.32 lakh.”
Modi stated that Boijhi even got an advance of Rs 25,000 for his produce but did not receive the remaining amount owed to him for months. “The new agricultural bills that have been passed in September have come to his aid. In the law, it has been decided that the farmer has to be paid within three days of the purchase.”
He added that if the payment is not received, the farmer can now lodge a complaint and the district’s sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has to take care of it within a month.
“Now, with the strength of such laws by their side, the problems of our farmer brothers were bound to be solved,” PM Modi said on his radio program.
But, Farmers are Protesting
Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana overcame tear gas, water cannons and police barricades on a second day on Friday, 26 November, to enter Delhi via the Tikri border.
The protesting farmers had earlier told the media that the protests will continue till the new laws brought on by the Modi government are not withdrawn by the Centre.
Meanwhile, amid images of tear gas shelling, stone-pelting and police lathi-charge, there were some images from the ongoing farmers' protest that rekindle hope.
Several social media users shared images of protesting farmers feeding and offering water to policemen, who till Friday morning were trying to stop them from entering Delhi before the Centre allowed them to cross the border.
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