 "Central govt 'insensitive' towards farmers: Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot")
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said that the central government is "insensitive" and passing time even as the farmers have been protesting for the last 39 days in the cold Delhi winter against the recently enacted farm laws.
"Around 39 days have passed since the farmers have been protesting at the borders of Delhi in winter. One can think what must be the farmers going through. The government is being very insensitive. They think that the farmers will be tired and the protest will die down. The government is doing time pass," Gehlot said while addressing a gathering here at a protest meeting held by the Congress party in Jaipur.
"The question is to determine the fate of the farmers of the country. The government thinks only farmers of Haryana and Punjab are sitting in protest. Farmers from the country's 6.5 lakh villages stand in solidarity with the protesting farmers," he said.
Gehlot further said that the Rajasthan government brought farm bills for the state to lessen the impact of the central farm laws on the farmers of the state.
"We are together with the farmers. The situation is very serious as more than 86 per cent farmers in the country have less than 5 acres of land. On average, they have only two acres land. The Rajasthan government brought farm bills for the state to lessen the impact of the central farm laws," he said.
Gehlot further pointed that out the people of India are very intelligent and under the democratic setup, they have the final authority.
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"India's people are very intelligent whether they be less educated or more. Even Indira ji (former prime minister Indira Gandhi), who delivered independence to Bangladesh, had lost in 1977. But in three years, she returned to power with a majority. In a democracy, people have always had their say," he said.
He further attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said that they should realise that Congress has held the country together for 70 years through sacrifice of its leaders.
"Former prime minister Indira Gandhi lost her life but did not let Khalistan to be formed. Another former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi also lost his life due to terrorism. Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh annihilated terrorism in Punjab. He also lost his life due to terrorism. Today BJP raises questions that what did Congress do? They should realise that Congress was the reason behind the country's unity," he said.
"The country's strength is diversity in unity," he added.
Rajasthan government had on October 31 introduced three bills to counter the central farm acts. The bills were - The Essential Commodities (Special Provisions and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill 2020.
The bills passed by the Rajasthan Assembly are awaiting the President's assent as of date.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, a consensus was reached on stubble burning and safeguarding power subsidies, two of the four issues that were on the agenda for talks between protesting farmers and central ministers on December 30.
At the conclusion of the seventh round of talks held here on December 30, the Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar stated that the next meeting will now be held on January 4.
Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.