Give farm reforms a chance, PM Modi says in Rajya Sabha; urges farmers to end protest

File image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 8 said that the newly-enacted farm laws should be given a chance while requesting protesting farmers to end the agitation.

While reiterating that his government was open to talks, the PM said that the opposition to the laws lacked any substance as the farm reforms had been stalled for decades.

"The opposition to farm laws lacks in substance. We need to decide if we want to be a part of the problem or the solution. Every government has stressed that there are reforms needed in the farming sector, but now politics seems to be taking over," Modi said  in the Rajya Sabha while replying to the Motion of Thanks on President Ram Nath Kovind's address amid the Opposition's call to repeal the three farm laws.

The Lok Sabha proceedings have been disrupted for many days owing to the ruckus by the Opposition parties over the farm laws. The Rajya Sabha, where protests were registered were witnessed in the beginning, has, however,been able to conduct a 15-hour debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

"Agriculture minister is talking to farmers. There are no tensions yet. Protesting is your right but want to request that old farmers are sitting, ask them to go home. I want to extend the invitation through this house.....," he said.

The PM also said that MSP was here to stay.

"We should not lose this time and  do not take the country backwards. We should give these reforms and opportunity and see if this benefits you. If there is a lacuna, we will fix it. MSP was there, MSP is there, MSP will continue," he said.

Quoting  former prime ministers  Charan Singh and Manmohan Singh to former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, PM Modi  slammed the Opposition asserting that no one tried to find reasons behind farmers' protests.

The PM said that since 2014, has government had initiated changes in the agriculture sector aimed at empowering small farmers. "The crop insurance scheme was changed to make it more farmer friendly. The PM-KISAN scheme was also brought in. We are working for the small farmers," he said.

Thousands of protesting farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for over two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops.

Usually, Prime Minister speaks in both the Houses of the Parliament, but PM's speech, if delivered only in Rajya Sabha, could be a departure from the set norms.

The Opposition parties boycotted the president's address on January 29. In his address, President Ram Nath Kovind condemned the violence during the tractor’s rally on Republic Day while asserting that with the new three agricultural reforms, the government has provided new facilities and rights to farmers.

The PM said that there is a need to protect the nation from a new FDI or the ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’. “The nation is making progress and we are talking about FDI but I see that a new FDI has come to the fore. We have to protect the nation from this new FDI. We need Foreign Direct Investment but the new FDI is ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’, we have to protect ourselves from it,” he said

Enacted in September 2020, the three laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector. But the opposition parties allege that the farm laws were brought 'without any consultations with states and farmer unions and lacked national consensus'