NEW DELHI/ CHANDIGARH: Demanding a complete rollback of three agricultural reforms laws enacted recently, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that minimum support price (MSP) of the crop should be 1.5 times of the cost of the products.
“We demand that all the three laws be taken back.There can be no compromise on the matter. Second, a law should be brought to legally mandate MSP and for 100 per cent of produce to be procured on the MSP, which should be 1.5 times the cost of production,” said the CM while addressing party workers from Punjab at Jantar Mantar.
The protesters gathered in the national capital to protest against the contentious new farm laws.He added that the people of Delhi are with them and being the CM, he would like to support them in their fight.The Bharatiya Janata Party wants to take the farming away from the farmers and give it to the corporate, the CM added.
“Only six per cent of the crop is procured at MSP across the country, whereas 100 per cent of the crop should be procured at MSP. The BJP had promised to implement the Swaminathan report in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which talks about the cost of MSP crop being 1.5 times, but after winning the election, the BJP scrapped the MSP,” Kejriwal said.
Speaking at the protest, Punjab AAP president and Member of Parliament, Bhagwant Mann said that the AAP had been opposing these laws from day one and would continue to do so till they are reversed.“They are not only anti-farmer but anti-public, anti-Punjab, and anti-country, which are being imposed in a dictatorial manner. The party is standing like a rock with the struggle of the farmer,” he said.
On the occasion, Kejriwal also attacked the opposition parties including Congress saying that they didn’t oppose the laws in the parliament. Apart from Kejriwal, other leaders including Sanjay Singh also joined the protest.Police later said they had detained more than 130 people including Bhagwant Mann, who were released subsequently.