Agricultural Reforms Have Started Benefiting Farmers: PM Modi at ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020

PM Modi's statement comes as farmer protests against the new farm laws entered the 24th day on Saturday.

New Delhi: Delivering his keynote address at the ASSOCHAM Foundation Week 2020 on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said reforms brought by his government six months ago have started benefiting farmers.

PM Modi’s statement comes as farmer protests against the new farm laws entered the 24th day on Saturday.

Speaking at the ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce of India) convention via video conferencing, PM Modi highlighted reforms spanning from the manufacturing sector to labour to say India has during the last six years emerged as the world’s preferred destination for investment.

Record foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) during the pandemic is a testimony to the faith that the world now has in India, he said.

“Agriculture reforms initiated six months back have started benefitting farmers,” PM Modi said without elaborating.

Hundreds of farmers from states like Punjab and Haryana have blocked some of the highways leading to Delhi for more than three weeks now against the new farm laws which they fear will prompt the government to stop making direct crop purchases at minimum state-set prices, called minimum support price (MSP).

The government, however, says the three new laws remove restrictions on marketing farm products and allow cultivators to engage with private companies to sell their crops. This, it says, allows farmers an alternate avenue to sell crops, raising their income, and is aimed at making farming more competitive.

Also, the new laws do not end MSP-based procurement and mandis would continue to function, the government has stressed several times.

(With inputs from PTI)