Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, September 18
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday briefed the Bihar farmers about the advantages of the contentious three farm bills that had brought turmoil in Punjab putting the alliance’s fate at stake.
Following the resignation of cabinet minister Harsimrat Kaur from the Modi cabinet, SAD could no longer be an ally of NDA.
Political observers read the PM’s Bihar statement in the same context. Bihar is also ruled by an ally of NDA. SAD had been the oldest ally of the NDA.
“The two Bills passed by the Parliament would free them from the clutches of middlemen and allow them freedom to market their farm produce without restrictions,” Modi said.
Modi was addressing the poll bound Bihar. He recalled that the chief minister, Nitish Kumar had scrapped the Agriculture Marketing Board Act long back. “What Nitish ji did earlier, we are following him,” he said in a bid to attract the farmers in the state where 76 per cent of the people are dependent on agriculture.
Modi said those opposing the Farmers production, Trade and Commerce (promotion and facilitation) Bill and the Farmers Empowerment and protection agreement on price assurance and farm services Bill were anti-farmers. They were speaking for the middlemen and exploiters of kisans. He alleged those who exploited the kisans for the last 70 years were spreading rumours that the farmers would be exploited by the government.
Modi said the kisans would get a higher minimum support price, better marketing facilities and restrictions on inter-state sale of the farm produce would be lifted. Government would continue to purchase their produce as done in the past.
The NDA government would free them of their debts as PM Kisan Kalyan money had been credited to the accounts of the farmers directly. Rs one lakh crore has been deposited in the accounts of ten crore farmers, another Rs one lakh crores spent on the PM Irrigation scheme in the last six years.
Terming the two Bills as historic, Modi said the farmers should not be misled by the opponents of the Bills
He inaugurated newly built Kosi mega railway bridge on Kosi river linking Mithila region with Kosi region. Bridge was damaged in the 1934 earthquake. The then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had laid the foundation of the mega-bridge on June 6, 2003 when Nitish Kumar was the railway minister.
The new bridge would help ease communication between Kosi and Mithila by 300 kms and the distance would be covered in 30 minutes against eight hours earlier. This will also facilitate faster rail communication to North East states.
Modi inaugurated about a dozen other railway projects costing Rs 1500 crore in north Bihar districts of Supaul, Barauni, Samastipur, Darbhanga, Jainagar, Khagaria, Barh, Bakhtiarlpur, Vaishali, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarpur.
The prime minister flagged off trains on the Kosi mega bridge and newly constructed railway bridge on Kiul river.
The Prime Minister lavishly praised Nitish Kumar and said “If we have a friend like Nitish Kumar, nothing is impossible.”
Modi will lay foundation stones of two mega river bridge projects of Rs 2594 crore on Kosi and Ganga at Bhagalpur. He will inaugurate the Ghar Ghar Fibre project of the union IT ministry linking all the 4595 villages in Bihar with internet connectivity on Monday (September 21).
