India Will govt bring law on MSP? Tomar’s response Union agriculture minister
Dated : 11 Dec 2020 (IST)
Narendra Singh Tomar on Thursday reiterated that the three new farm laws are meant for the welfare of the farmers and said the Centre is open to hold deliberations to address any of their concerns.
Thousands of farmers are protesting against the new agriculture laws for the last few days, demanding the roll back of the contentious legislations.
The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new farm laws will eliminate the safety cushion of MSP and scrap the mandis, thereby leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
Asked at a media briefing whether the government is planning to bring any law to assure that the MSP system will continue, Tomar said, “MSP has nothing to do with the new laws. These laws will not affect the MSP system in any way.
This was assured to the farmers by PM Modi himself. Even I said on the floors of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha that MSP will continue to stay as before.”Follow TOI’s live blog for latest updates on farmers protest
When asked again if the government is considering any ordinance to assure MSP, Tomar insisted that the issue doesn’t exist, effectively ruling out the possibility of any such law.Tomar added that the Centre is ready to hold deliberations on any apprehensions of the farmers.
Earlier, at the media briefing, Tomar said the government has always been ready for dialogue with farmers and it remains committed to do so.”We are concerned about the farmers protesting in cold weather and during the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.
Farmers’ unions should consider the government’s proposal at the earliest and then we can mutually decide on the next meeting, if required,” the minister said.
The government had on Wednesday proposed to give a “written assurance” that the existing Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime for procurement will continue.
However, the farmers’ unions rejected the proposal and said they would intensify their agitation until the government accepts their demand for a complete repeal of the three laws.
