PANJIM: Bodgeshwar Xetkari Sangathan, All Goa Tennant Association and All Goa Kul Mundkar Association today held a protest demonstration at Azad Maidan against the Anti Farmer Bill.The organisation’s have also said that they would hold statewide protest against the agriculture bills if the state government don’t take a stand in favor of the farmers.
Farmers and traders have been vehemently opposing the new bills, alleging the government wants to discontinue the minimum support price regime in the name of reforms.
“The decision to pass three Bills related to farmers without adequate consultation of stakeholders and debates in both the Houses is the evilest act to destabilise the foundations of democracy,” said Sanjay Barde
The fact is, the farmers are against it [the bills] and while the government claims it is pro-farmer, no farmers’ organisation was consulted,” he added.
After the farm bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday, PM Narendra Modi, in a series of tweets, reassured the farmers that the MSP and the government procurement of farmers’ produce will continue.
Meanwhile, the Goa BJP came in support of the bill stating that the purpose of these legislations was to eliminate the role of middlemen in the trade of agriculture produce and ensure that farmers get a bigger and broad playing field to sell their crop.
“The laws proposed in these bills will hurt the middlemen who are engaged in inflating prices of agriculture produce. They are the ones who are the most affected by these new proposed changes,” Tanavade had said
