New Delhi: A day after the Haryana Government lathi-charged farmers who were protesting against the three agriculture ordinances, the Congress on Saturday accused the BJP-led central government of conspiring against the achievements of the 'Green Revolution.'
Addressing a press conference, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged that the Modi Government first brought an ordinance to capture the land of the poor and now wants to enslave the farmers.
"The draconian ordinances brought in by the Modi Government are still sinking in with the farmers unions, their representatives, and also various governments including those belonging to the ruling party. These ordinances are a death-nail for agriculture in India," he said.
"These ordinances will subjugate the farmers at hands of a handful of crony capitalists, making them labourers who toil on their own lands rather than making remunerative prices on their crops under the system of Minimum Support Price and the crops to be sold in Agriculture Market Committee," he added.
The three ordinances introduced by the Modi Government in June are the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020, and Amendment in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
The Congress leader made a sharp attack on the Centre, calling it "East India Company", while asserting that the ruling BJP came to power with a promise of providing cost + 50 per cent profit to the farmers, but instead penned down a complete novel of their "destruction".
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He further alleged that the real intention of the Central Government behind these ordinances is to implement the Shanta Kumar Committee report as it will help them to save nearly one lakh crore in a year with a direct hit on the farmers.
Shanta Kumar Committee Report, which came in 2015, had recommended that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) should hand over all procurement operations of wheat, paddy, rice to the states and will only accept the surplus from its governments to be moved to deficit states.
"When the mandi system ends, the farmer will be dependent only on contract farming and the big companies will set the price for his crop. What is this if not a new zamindari system?" asked Surjewala.
He also argued over the need of cooperative federalism over the matter, as the Central Government has not taken any approval from the states before introducing these three ordinances.
"We will speak to every party. Our floor leaders are already in touch. We'll put up a joint opposition to the draconian ordinances of Modi Government aimed at subjugating the farming community, affecting crores of people who are aligned with the grain market system," Surjewala said, when asked about Congress' Parliamentary strategy on this matter.
