Farmers To Benefit With New Laws: Nirmala Sitharaman

Amaravati: With the amendment and enactment of the three laws pertaining to the Agriculture by the Parliament in the recent session, the farmers would get benefit at large scale across the country, hoped the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, addressing a press conference at Income Tax Building in Vijayawada on Wednesday.

Denying the objections and concerns of the opposition parties, she stated that they have been opposing these bills with vested political motives. It may be noted that the union ministers have been visiting all the headquarters of all the States in order to create awareness among farmers and the general public on these three Acts. As part of that campaign, she visited Andhra Pradesh and interacted with the farmers and BJP cadre in Vijayawada, after addressing the media.

She said that these reforms are not new ones. Even opposition parties put these reforms in their manifestos. But now, opposing. Which means, the opposition parties, particularly the Congress is cheating the public and voters, she lambasted.

Despite many challenges including the Covid19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed the amendments with a commitment to empower the farmers, she added.

Amending labour laws alone will not give proper results. That's why we have made amendments to all three bills at a time, she explained.

A farmer can now take his produce to any state and sell anywhere in the country, without additional burden. She explained that the farmers could utilize the e-NAM platform to get more benefit by selling his produce. At the same time, the farmers could also go for agreements with the purchasing companies, they could form Farmer Producing Organizations (FPOs), they could add value to their farm produce and many more, Sitharaman explained.

"I met some farmers on my way from the airport to here. They thanked PM Modi for the reforms, as they can sell their produce anywhere in India after these reforms", she said.

"Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) will remain intact, even after enacting these three Acts. We are not touching them. Farmers can transact outside the market yard or out of the State. States will not lose their control over agriculture or agri marketing. The amendments we made are under the central list only. We did not touch APMCs as they are under the state list.", the finance minister explained.

Sitharaman said, "There will be no tax on it. But, the market yards have been collecting different kinds of cesses, between 8 to 8.5 per cent on sales. These legislations would allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country, maintain stock till they get remunerative price".