Union Minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar penned a letter to the protesting farmers on Thursday, 17 December, in which he sought to clear the ‘lies’ surrounding the new farm laws introduced by the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to share Tomar’s words with as many as possible.
One of the reasons for widespread farmer agitation in the country is the lack of clarity on minimum support price (MSP).
In Tomar’s letter, he assured that the MSP system will continue, and added that the government is ready to give a written assurance regarding the same.
Tomar also claimed that most farmers are happy with the three laws, and a certain section of society, in and around Delhi, is creating unrest by spreading “a wall of lies” between the government and the farmers.
“As the agriculture minister of the country, my duty is to dispel farmers’ misconceptions, to make every farmer of this country tension-free,” he wrote in Hindi, Hindustan Times reported.
He wrote, "I belong to a farmer's family and since childhood, I have experienced the tough life of farmers. It is very satisfactory that after implementation of the law, MSP procurement has set a new record this time."
His letter disputed the claim that the APMC mandis were coming to an end with the new laws, as he wrote that “the MSP and APMC system will continue.”
The letter also stated that farmers’ land was not in danger, and the laws were made for crops and not farmers.
The farmers have met with the central administration for five rounds of talks, all of which have been inconclusive. Protesting farmers are rallying for the complete revocation of the laws introduced by the BJP government.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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