Hyderabad: Agri Minister S Niranjan Reddy demands Centre to repeal farm laws

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy said that it was unfortunate to see farmers protesting on the streets even on the National Farmers Day (Kisan Diwas) against the agriculture laws brought out by the Centre.

On Wednesday, expressing his anguish at the demise of 41 farmers, the Minister said that four of them have committed suicide, while another four died while coming to join the protests. It is a shame on the part of the Centre that 11 more farmers have lost their lives due to heart attack and cold. Besides, thousands suffered due to the oppression unleashed by the Centre, he said.

In the cold winter days of Delhi, he said, farmers from the States of Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have been protesting for the last 28 days. Yet, the Centre has not come forward to take back the farm laws and address the concerns raised by the farmers.

The Minister said that 50 farmers associations, 14 million truck drivers have expressed their support to the protesting farmers. Similarly, nearly 25 crore people have come up on to the roads to express their support to the farmers' agitation participating in the Bharat Bandh call given by them.

Niranjan Reddy said that nearly 55 per cent of people in the country were dependent on the agriculture sector and people have a responsibility to save and protect the farm sector.

He asked the Centre to take back the farm laws as demanded by the farmers and include the provision for assured MSP. He demanded the Centre to unconditionally accept the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and 10 demands of the farmers.