Lucknow, March 11 (SocialNews.XYZ) A number of former bureaucrats in Uttar Pradesh have now appealed to the protesting farmers to end their agitation as the new farm laws are in their interest.
This comes a day after some former bureaucrats had announced their support to the farmers' agitation.
In a signed statement, the former bureaucrats have called upon farmers not to get misled by the misinformation campaign unleashed by some vested interests against the farm laws and to try to understand the motive of the government behind the laws and the benefits it has for the farmers on their own.
They have also urged the farmers to end the protest as it is causing inconvenience to the common people for no valid reason.
Former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, Atul Gupta, said that the new farm laws introduced by the central and state governments have clearly helped farmers increase their income.
He said that the budgetary provisions are aimed at both strengthening agriculture as well as enhancing farmers' income.
He further explained that the government does not at all intend to end mandis, instead it seeks to link them electronically through eNAM (National Agriculture Market), which guarantees increase in the rates of their produce by one and a half times.
As for contract farming, Gupta said that while the new laws allow the farmers the freedom to end the agreement with the contractor, it does not give the same to the contractor. The contractor is also bound by the law to pay bonus to the farmer he is having an agreement with, in case of high income from the farm produce.
Former IAS officer, Sudesh Ojha, and some other bureaucrats said that contract farming was not a new concept in India and has been rampant across the state since long, adding that baseless rumours were being spread that the new laws would eventually lead to a situation where farmers would start losing out their lands to the contractors.
Former Director General of Police, Sulkhan Singh, who has also signed the statement, said that the central and the state governments have taken several steps in the recent past that have helped farmers join the mainstream and contribute to the development of the nation while benefiting from the government's farmer-friendly policies.
He said that the UP government not only paid Rs 1.15 lakh crore to the sugarcane farmers, but also reopened several sugar mills that were shut down.
He stressed that the new laws will not end mandis, or the Minimum Support Price (MSP) provided by the government.
Singh said that the agitation has been causing problems for common people on a daily basis for months.
Devendra Tiwari of Bhartiya Kisan Manch said that the new laws allow farmers the freedom to sell their crops wherever and whoever they want to.
For example, they can sell their crops on MSP, in mandis, to businessmen as well as in other states through the FPO. Tiwari said that while the government has increased the MSP, many baseless rumours are being spread about the farm laws. He added further that the new laws make it binding on the buyers to pay on time.
Source: IANS
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