Ravi Shankar Prasad assures farmers MSP will remain; direct deals with corporates added

As the farmer's agitation against the Centre's new agriculture laws in New Delhi entered the seventh day, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the contentious bills are not anti-farmer, as is being perceived by the agitators.

Stating that the bills empower farmers, Prasad assured that the safety net of the MSP will continue and will also add new options to what the farmers already have.

“The new agricultural law implemented by the government is not anti-farmer at all. Under this bill, the safety net of the MSP will remain and will also add new options that the farmers have. Farmers will be able to enter into direct agreements for sale of food grains with production companies.” the Minister said in a tweet.

On Tuesday, Ravi Shankar Prasad had also tweeted to assure the farmers that the new farm laws do not abolish APMC mandis and they will continue to operate as before. The Union Minister highlighted that the recently introduced bills give the farmers the freedom to sell their crops anywhere and to those who give the best price.

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Farmer agitation continues

Farmers from Punjab and neighbouring states are protesting in Delhi and its border areas against three new farm laws: 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, 2020.

On Tuesday, Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyal held a 3-hour long meeting with leaders of farmer unions from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand at Krishi Bhawan in New Delhi. He informed that the next round of talks will be held on Thursday at 12 PM and also appealed to the farmers to form a small committee. However, the unions have maintained that the protests will continue even after the talks on Tuesday. 

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