'Govt open for further discussions, farmers should leave agitation'

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday said that the government is open for more discussions with farmers and they should give a date for the same and leave their agitationThe minister said at a press briefing that the government had sent proposals to farmer unions He said the government is ready for openminded discussion on provisions farmers have an objection againstWe gave a proposal to farmers We have expressed ourselves If they want to discuss further we are ready to talk to them I had asked that they should leave agitation And when discussions are on they should not have called further agitation he saidWe sent a proposal to farmers They wanted the laws to be repealed The government is ready for openminded discussion on provisions they have an objection against Laws do not affect Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees APMCs or MSP We tried to explain this to farmers he addedThe minister said that the Minimum Support Price MSP will not be affected by the farm laws recently enacted by the CentreThe entire country has witnessed that Swaminathan Commission report came in 2006 and the recommendation about giving MSP at 15 times the cost of production remained pending till Modi government implemented it MSP has got nothing to do with the farm laws They do not affect MSP at all Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I have explained and assured the farmers that MSP will continue he saidTomar said that the law provides that processors will have to dismantle the infrastructure set up on the farmers land after the agreement between them concludesThe law provides that if farmer and processor enter into an agreement and the type of crop is such that some infrastructure has to be set up on the farmers land then the processor will dismantle his infrastructure from thereafter the agreement concludes he saidIf the processor does not do it then the owner of that infrastructure will be the farmer himself This has been provided in the law he addedHe said the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to increasing the income of farmersBefore 2014 there was an immense shortage of urea during the sowing season and chief ministers of the states used to conduct dharnas in the national capital to demand their states quota of ureaThe Agriculture Minister said that the government intends to liberate the farmers from shackles of mandi so that they could sell their produce at their own priceIt is being projected that the land of farmers will be occupied by industrialists Contract farming has been going on for long in Gujarat Maharashtra Haryana Punjab Karnataka but there has never been such an experience he addedHe said Acts provide that there will be agreement only be between processor and farmer There is no provision for any lease or agreement over farmers landUnion Minister for Railways and Commerce Piyush Goyal said the government is keen to find an amicable solution in the interest of our annadatasThere were some concerns that farmers will be forced to sell their produce in the private market This is completely erroneous There is absolutely no provision in the law which brings an element of compulsion on any farmer he saidFarmer unions had on Wednesday rejected the governments proposals for changes in three farm laws and said they will intensify their protest for the repeal of these lawsThe farmer unions had called a Bharat Bandh on Tuesday in support of their demand which was supported by several political partiesThe farmers are protesting against the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 the Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020Keep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever