“There should be no violence, arson…there should be no damage to anyone’s property and life,” he said.
New Delhi:
Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday appealed to the farmers protesting on the Punjab-Haryana borders not to resort to violence and said the government is ready to talk to them to resolve their concerns.
The Information and Broadcasting Minister also targeted Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for their comments on the farmers’ issue.
Thousands of farmers from Punjab are camping at the Punjab-Haryana borders as part of their ‘Delhi Chalo’ march to put pressure on the Center to accept their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price for crops and farm loan waiver. While Congress did “nothing” for farmers during its rule in the past, AAP kept pressuring former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to announce MSP at the state level, but when it came to power in the border state, it did Nothing was done in this regard. , Mr. Thakur alleged.
He told reporters here, “I request all the protesters not to adopt the path of violence. Whatever issue the farmers’ organizations want to discuss, the government is always ready to talk to them.”
“In the first four rounds of talks, senior ministers of the Modi government met him in Chandigarh and talked for several hours in a very positive manner. And we have said that in the future also we are ready for talks whenever the need arises.” He said.
He said, “There should be no violence, arson…there should be no damage to anyone’s property and life. This is what all of us should strive for.”
The minister highlighted the steps taken by the Modi government for the welfare and progress of farmers.
“We have increased the price of sugarcane from Rs 315 per quintal to Rs 340 per quintal. This is 8 per cent more than last year. Not only this, we are trying to double the income of farmers and have taken every step in this direction. ” ,” He said.
He said, “We implemented the Swaminathan Committee report…Modi government has taken every step in the interest of farmers to increase their income and make them prosperous and will continue to do so.”
Asked about the Congress’ promise to give legal guarantee to MSP if it comes to power at the Centre, Mr Thakur said, “My only question to the Congress is what it did when it ruled the country for 60 years”. .
He said, from 2004-14, Congress gave only Rs 5.5 lakh crore for MSP, while the Modi government spent Rs 18.39 lakh crore on this item, which is three and a half times more.
Mr Thakur said, “When AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Mann and others were the CM of Punjab, they used to put pressure on Amarinder Singh to give MSP in the state. Now they have governments in Delhi and Punjab also.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
