Narendra Modi says new farm laws 'not implemented overnight', accuses Oppn of misleading farmers

Bhopal: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the new agricultural laws brought by his government have not come overnight, but were long overdue and insisted that the existing regime of support price for farm produce will continue. Political parties, agriculture experts and progressive farmers demanded such agri reforms for long, he said and attacked the opposition for misleading cultivators on the issue of MSP (minimum support price) and APMCs. Opposition parties, when in power, sat over the Swaminathan committee report for years, but the BJP-led government implemented its recommendations in the interest of farmers, said the PM as the ongoing protests by cultivators outside Delhi entered the 23rd day. The new agriculture laws have not come overnight but political parties, agriculture experts and progressive farmers have demanded them for a long time, Modi said in a virtual address to the farmers of Madhya Pradesh. Coming down heavily on those misleading farmers, Modi said, People should seek replies from those who have talked about these reforms in their manifestos for long but never implemented them. “If they want to take credit for these farm laws, they should do so, but they should stop misleading farmers on the issue by spreading lies, he said. Modi said MSP and Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) mechanisms will continue even after the implementation of the new farm laws. Hundreds of farmers are camping at several Delhi border points to press for the repeal of the Centre’s new farm laws.