Nirmala Sitharaman slams opposition parties for cheating voters

Amaravati: With the amendment and enactment of the three laws pertaining to the agriculture by the Parliament in the recent session, the farmers across the country would benefit immensely, said Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Addressing a press conference at Income Tax Building in Vijayawada on Wednesday, she alleged that opposition parties had been opposing these bills with only political motives. Nirmala Sitharaman was here as part of visits by Union minister to all the states to create awareness among farmers and the general public on these three Acts. During her visit, she also interacted with the farmers and BJP cadres in Vijayawada after addressing the media.

The Union finance minister said that these reforms were not new ones and even opposition parties had promised to introduce them in their manifestos. "But now they are resisting them. This means the opposition parties, particularly Congress, are cheating the voters," she said..

Despite many challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed the amendments with a commitment to empower the farmers, she claimed.

She said that a farmer can now take his produce to any state and sell anywhere in the country, without additional burden. The farmers could utilise the e-NAM platform to get more benefit by selling his produce. At the same time, farmers could also go for agreements with the companies, they could form Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), add value to their produce among other things, Sitharaman explained.

"I met some farmers on my way from airport to here. They thanked the Prime Minister 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 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 Central list only. We did not touch APMCs as they are under state list," she said allaying fears among farmers.

She said there would be no tax on agriculture produce but the market yards have been collecting different kinds of cess, 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, she added.