GUWAHATI, Oct 1 - The three newly enacted farm legislations are the biggest reforms in India�s agriculture sector since Independence and will benefit the farmers of the North East immensely, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said here on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference, Rijiju, who is the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports and also the Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, said the legislations will provide the much-needed �freedom� to farmers and provide them the scope to sell their produce at the best price.
The Farmers� Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020, were passed by the Parliament during the recent monsoon session. They became law after receiving the assent of the President. However, since then, farmers in many states have undertaken massive protests against the new legislations.
�Assam and the North East did not have the same system which existed in other states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But after these reforms, farmers of the North East will secure many benefits. The Government of Assam has rolled out many schemes to support the farmers. Now, farmers of the North East will be the biggest beneficiaries of the new legislations,� Rijiju said.
He said the Central government will work closely with the states to ensure that the new Acts bring about the intended benefits to farmers.
Rijiju exuded confidence that following enactment of the new legislations, the North East will turn into a trading hub for horticultural and other primary products. �The reforms will do away with the old restrictions. Farmers will now have more freedom to sell their produce. They will no longer be forced to sell their produce only in local mandis. They can now go for inter-state and intra-state sale. Mandatory support to farmers, as envisaged in the reforms, will strengthen the producers,� he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the state government has taken many measures in the past four-and-half years for benefit of the agriculture sector. �With the new Central reforms, the steps taken by the state government will now produce more visible results. We have already distributed 14,000 tractors to farmers and our target is 26,000. We have already started exporting many agricultural products from Assam to overseas markets. The new reforms will benefit the farmers as they will now be able to sell at markets of their choice and at the best prices available,� Sonowal said.
