‘BJP govt using farm Bills to grab farmers’ land’: Rajeev Satav
Rajeev Satav, who was among the eight MPs suspended for registering their protest against the farm Bills in the Parliament, said, “This government is not talking of farmers’ debt
Rajya Sabha MP and Congress in-charge for Gujarat Rajeev Satav on Thursday accused the BJP-led central government of using the farm Bills passed in Parliament over the past few days to “attempt land-grabbing” of farmers as “86 per cent of India’s farmers have farmland measuring five acres or less.”
“This BJP government, in the coming times, plans to grab the land of these small farmers and give it to private players…you have seen that airports are no more government-owned, neither are ports. Similarly, these farmlands will be handed over to private players, and this (the three farm Bills) are an attempt to achieve this. Congress will continue opposing these Bills because this is an anti-farmer policy,” said Satav during a press conference in Ahmedabad.
Satav, who was among the eight MPs suspended for registering their protest against the farm Bills in the Parliament, said, “This government is not talking of farmers’ debt. Take Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. It was apparently aimed at helping small and medium farmers but instead it helped the contractual company. This year, Gujarat government has suspended the scheme. Even the state government does not want to implement this central government’s scheme. It only goes on to show the apathy towards farmers.”
“The last six years have been one of ‘ordinance raj’. Globally only three countries have the provision of ordinances – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ordinance is only a way of bypassing Parliament and parliamentary procedures. They did not discuss it (the three Bills) with states, or with stakeholders, or with farmers. May be they had their apprehensions in discussing these Bills with farmers, but at least they could have discussed it with RSS-affiliated units or with farm leaders. The Bills do not mention anywhere that a purchaser has to provide the price equivalent to the minimum support price (MSP),” The Congress MP said.
Satav also denied BJP’s allegations that the opposition to the farm-Bills is only being posed by Congress.
“12 parties, not just Congress, opposed the Bills and they wanted to present their,” added Satav.
