Union minister Javadekar takes 'middlemen' jibe at parties opposing farm laws
Panaji: Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday alleged that parties opposing the newly enacted farm laws were acting as "middlemen for middlemen".
Talking to reporters on the second day of his visit to Goa as part of the ruling BJP's initiative to create awareness about the farm laws, Javadekar said the actual situation is that farmers earn less for their produce and customers have to buy it at higher rates.
The middlemen hike the prices and the farm laws deal with this problem by eradicating these middlemen, he said.
"Sometimes I feel the opposition parties have become middlemen for middlemen," he alleged.
Claiming that the agitation against farm laws will die out on its own, the minister said, "Falsehood has limited life while truth lives forever."
"The Congress and NCP launched their campaign to protest against the farm bills. I am going to ask them to look at their manifesto. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh has spoken about such (agricultural) reforms in his speeches. But, the Congress has now done a u-turn," he said.
He alleged that the opposition parties were spreading a "myth" that APMCs (agriculture produce market committees) will be shut down under the new laws, and government will stop purchasing the produce or the minimum support price (MSP) would be stopped.
"All these are lies," Javadekar said.
The BJP leader also said the conduct of opposition leaders in the Rajya Sabha over the passage of these bills was "condemnable and shameful".
Referring to a protest by a group of people on his way to Mapusa town on Saturday, Javadekar said he doubts that those who were protesting were real farmers.
He said 60 per cent population of the country is involved in the farming sector, but their contribution to the GDP (gross domestic product) is 15 per cent.
There is a need to increase the productivity and also give them markets outside the country so that their standard of living improves, he said.
Javadekar said when he was in school, the countrys population was 30 crore, which has now increase to 138 crore, but despite that, theres no shortage of food.
"We are thankful to farmers who have been feeding our country," he said, adding that it is the responsibility of the government to increase their income.
The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 became law after getting the presidential assent recently.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
