Modi govt brought in new farm laws to double farmers' income: Anurag Thakur

"The farmers have been given the freedom to sell their products to anybody in the country at any cost," says Thakur

With continued farmers protests regarding the Central farm laws, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Finance Anurag Thakur has said that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought three laws to double the income of farmers and that the present government paid Minimum Support Price (MSP), double than what was paid by the previous UPA government.

"The three agriculture laws were brought so as to double the income of farmers. In the last six years, Modi government paid more than double MSP, then what was paid in the UPA time. During 2009-2014, the UPA government paid Rs 3,75,000 crore whereas the NDA government has paid over Rs 8,00,000 crore," the Minister said while speaking to ANI.

"The farmers have been given the freedom to sell their products to anybody in the country at any cost. They will own their farmlands, only their crops will be on contracts. The government has made this arrangement too. The Centre is working hard to double their income by 2022," he added.

"PM Modi, Agriculture Minister and other senior ministers have already stated that the MSP will be continued. The present government has increased the Rates of MSP after bringing new laws. Even during the pandemic, the Centre paid Rs 7,000 crore MSP to buy crops," he added.

"The government is spending Rs 1,00,000 crore on Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. This will help farmers have their own warehouses, cold storage and vehicles so that their crops are not only saved but can also be sold at a good price," he added.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting on different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted 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.