Slamming protests over farm laws, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, 29 September said that the Opposition cannot tolerate the freedom of farmers and called the buring of tractor by protesters at India Gate on Monday an insult to the farmers.
He also said that farmers are being misled by the Opposition, and that the protests were taking place because yet another avenue for the Opposition to get ‘black money’ had been closed off.
“MSP will continue in the country. And farmers will also have the freedom to sell their produce wherever they want. But this freedom cannot be tolerated by some people,. This shuts down yet another avenue of theirs to make ‘black money’.”Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Speaking at the launch of six projects under Namami Gange via video conference, PM Modi said that it was the BJP who implemented the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme which the Opposition could not do for several years.
PM Modi said that the reforms will strengthen the labourers, youth, women and farmers of the nation “but the nation can see how some people are opposing them just for the sake of it.”
“Farmers can now sell their produce to anyone, anywhere. But when the Centre is giving farmers their rights, these people are opposing it. They don’t want farmers to sell their produce in the open market, they want middlemen to earn profit. They’re opposing the freedom of farmers,” PM Modi alleged.
Punjab Youth Congress workers on 28 September, set ablaze a tractor in the high security India Gate area to protest the three contentious farm laws against which pan-India protests have been taking place. The fire was later doused and the tractor was also removed by the police.
“They are insulting the farmers by setting fire to the machines and equipment that is worshipped by them,” PM Modi said.
Reiterating that MSP will remain in place for farmers’ produce, PM Modi said that the Opposition is unable to “tolerate their freedom.”
“Today these people are misleading farmers over MSP. There will not only be MSP in the country but also the freedom for farmers to sell their produce anywhere. But some people are unable to tolerate this freedom. Their one more medium to earn black income is finished,” he said.
Protests over the farm bills have been continuing across the country since the past week as the Parliament passed the contoversial farm bills, now laws.
PM Modi Trains Guns at the Opposition
Further attacking the Opposition, PM Modi said that they had also raised doubts on the valour of Indian soldiers after surgical strikes and the Rafale deal.
“For years these people [the Opposition] didn't do anything to empower our security forces. Air Force kept asking for Rafale but they never listened to them. When our government signed a contract with France Govt for Rafale aircraft, they started having a problem,” PM Modi said.
“Four years ago, around this time the country's bravehearts carried out surgical strike & destroyed bases of terror. But these people [the Opposition] demanded evidence of the surgical strike. By opposing surgical strike, they've cleared their intention before the country,” he added.
PM Modi said that the Opposition also had problems with Yoga in India and the Statue of Unity.
On Namami Gange Project
In a move to further clean the Ganga, PM Modi inaugurated six mega projects in Uttarakhand under the Namami Gange Mission on Tuesday.
These projects include construction of a 68 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP), upgradation of the existing 27 MLD at Jagjeetpur in Haridwar and construction of an 18 MLD STP at Sarai in Haridwar.
The inauguration of 68 MLD Jagjeetpur project also marks the completion of the first sewerage project taken up on hybrid annuity mode on public private partnership.
Meanwhile, in Rishikesh, a 26 MLD STP at Lakkadghat was also inaugurated.
PM Modi said that in the past decades, lack of public participation never helped the Ganga get clean.
“In the past decades, huge initiatives were taken up to clean river Ganga but those initiatives had neither public participation nor farsightedness. As a result, water of river Ganga was never cleaned,” he said.
The 7.5 MLD STP in Chandreshwar Nagar will be the first four-storied STP in the country where the limitation of land availability was converted into an opportunity. The STP has been constructed in about 30 per cent of the usual area required for STPs of such capacity.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated a 5 MLD STP in Chorpani, and two STPs with capacities of 1 MLD and 0.01 MLD in Badrinath.
The logo of Jal Jeevan Mission and 'Margdarshika' for gram panchayats and paani samitis' under the Jal Jeevan Mission will also be unveiled at the event. In all, 30 projects are now complete in Uttarakhand for taking care of pollution in 17 towns near Ganga river.
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