Farmers' delegation from UP meet Tomar, show support for farm laws
Dec 20, 2020
New Delhi [India], December 20 : Impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarifications of the recently enacted farm laws, a delegation from a Western Uttar Pradesh farmers' union met Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar at Krishi Bhawan here on Sunday to extend their support for the new agricultural Acts.
The delegation from farmers' organisation Hind Mazdoor Kisan Samiti, comprising of farmers from Meerut, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar and other districts, submitted a letter to Tomar extending their support to the three farm laws. BJP MP from UP's Muzaffarnagar Sanjeev Balyan was also present.
"We had doubts regarding the farm laws but after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assurance, we have decided to extend our support for the laws. PM Modi has said that it will be beneficial for the farmers and we believe him," farmer leader Chandra Mohan, who led the delegation, told ANI.
Balyan said that the opposition political parties want the farmers' agitation to continue as they have nothing else to do.
"They are doing politics over the farm laws. They have nothing else to do and hence they want the farmers' agitation to continue. We are worried about farmers and soon there will be another round of talks between the farmers and government," he said.
Before this, 10 organisations from various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar and Haryana, associated with All India Kisan Coordination Committee, met Union Agriculture Minister Tomar on December 14 to extend their support.
Amid protests in and around Delhi against the new farm laws, Agriculture Minister Tomar recently wrote an open letter to the farmers, saying "misunderstanding has been created among some farmer unions" and "white lies" are being spread on minimum support price.
The minister slammed the Congress saying that they had spoken in favour of such laws before they were enacted. He said that AAP and Shiromani Akali Dal were also speaking "in a different tone".
In his eight-page letter, Tomar said he comes from a family of farmers and knows the finer points and challenges of farming.
Even after several rounds of talks with the government, farmers have been protesting in and around the national capital since November 26 against the three farm laws -- the 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.
