The BJP on Friday hailed the finance minister's announcement for the agriculture sector, asserting that it is a "liberation day" for farmers who will now have the "right to right prices" as it will create an enabling environment for them to get best results for their produce.
Welcoming the decisions announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP president J P Nadda described the proposed amendments to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, and the APMC Act, among other measures, as "far-reaching" agricultural reforms and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for these "very effective" decisions.
"Today's announcements will hugely benefit farmers and enhance their incomes," he said.
Senior BJP leaders and Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ravi Shankar Prasad lauded the package.
Prasad said all the decisions announced in the last few days as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore special package is aimed at "rejuvenation" of India during the COVID-19 crisis and have one recurrent theme, which is "compassion" for the poor and marginalised, farmers and the MSME sector, with an aim to empower them and turn the challenging time into an opportunity.
"Today is liberation day for farmers," Javadekar told PTI and added that it was a 70-year-old demand of farmers that they should get the choice of whom to sell their produce as they were bound so far to go to a particular agency.
This "exploitation" will now be over and farmers can sell their produce by their choice, he said.
The Essential Commodities Act was promulgated in 1955 when there used to be scarcity of food, which is not the case now.
"We should not tie farmers to unnatural conditions and deprive them of their fair chance to get good price outside or within the country. That will be done.
"They will have the right to right prices as a farmer will not only choose his buyer but also the method. In any industry, nobody monitors sale but it was done in agriculture. It was discouraging," he said.
Prasad said the announcement made on Friday focuses on creating a resurgent infrastructure for farming, dairy, animal husbandry and fishing.
In an apparent rejection of criticism from some quarters that the central government has not handed over cash to the poor in this time of crisis, he noted that over Rs 52,000 crore has gone into hands of the needy through direct benefit transfer and other digital mode of payments.
Over Rs 1,000 crore was delivered by postmen through Aadhaar-enabled payments to the remotest regions of the country, Prasad said.
Javadekar said the announcements made in the last three days address immediate problems and also correct many wrongs done in the past.
Large sections of the needy population, including farmers, senior citizens and women, have been given cash by the government, he said.
In a series of tweets in Hindi, Shah said the Narendra Modi government would bring a central law to give farmers enough options to sell their produce at a better price.
"Modi government believes that India's welfare lies in the welfare of farmers. This unprecedented assistance given to farmers today shows Modiji's foresight to make the country self-sufficient by empowering farmers. For this, I congratulate @narendramodi ji and @nsitharaman ji," he said.
The home minister said he was confident that the decision of the Rs one-lakh crore 'Agriculture Infrastructure Fund' will give a new direction to the agriculture sector and the welfare of farmers of India.
"With the landmark decision of Agriculture Marketing Reforms, the Modi government will bring a central law that will give farmers enough options to sell their produce at a better price. He (the farmer) will be able to do barrier-free inter-state trade and through e-trading, his produce will reach every corner of the country," he said.
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