अजीत सिन्हा की रिपोर्ट
new delhi: Rahul Gandhi said- Vanakkam ! I am very happy today to come and meet all of you. I am especially happy, because I can see a lot of women in the crowd. Today, being a farmer in India is a very challenging task. It has always been a difficult task, but, now under the current Government, it has become almost impossible, because the current Government in New Delhi is trying to destroy the foundation of the agricultural system. So, today I have come here, of course, to listen to you, to understand the difficulties that you face and also to tell you a little bit about what is going on at the national level with regards to farmers, markets and the agricultural system. So, now I would like my brothers and sisters to take the floor.
(Various farmers shared their problems and concerns. It was followed by questions from Shri Rahul Gandhi)
Shri Gandhi asked a lady farmer if she has heard about Mr. Narendra Modi’s new farm laws? (Women said- I don’t know anything.)
Shri Gandhi said- One of the problems that our farmers have is that they do not have access to information, because information is purposely hidden from them. Does anybody over here know the details of the three laws that Narendra Modi has passed? Can someone explain?
(one farmer raised hand and explained about the contract farming and three farm laws & the PM’s support to the crony capitalists)
Shri Rahul Gandhi said- I think, he would make a better Agricultural Minister than the current man. Just to repeat, what he has said. There are three elements of new farm laws. First element- Destruction of the Mandi system; second element-allowing the biggest businesses in the country to store as much as the agriculture produces as they want; and third part of the law- not to allow farmers to use the courts to protect themselves.
What Mr. Narendra Modi wants, is that instead of going to mandi, instead of negotiating with small trader, where if you have a problem you can go to the court, the Indian farmer is forced to negotiate with huge massive companies and then if something goes wrong, the Indian farmer should not have access to the courts.
So, the result is going to be that millions of people who are employed by this agricultural system, farmers, labourers, loaders, small traders, all these people are going to be unemployed and when the farmers are protesting, farmers outside Delhi, from Punjab, from Haryana, from Rajasthan when they are protesting, the Modi Govt is calling them terrorists. So, we are stopping these laws and we are protecting your interests. We are stopping these laws and we are not allowing to pass these laws because we think these are criminal laws against the farmers of India.
They are trying to replicate a failed model and they are trying to help 5 or 6 of the people closest to the Prime Minister. They are hurting the interest of millions and millions of Indian farmers.
Shri Rahul Gandhi asked- How many people in this meeting like demonetisation? Did you benefit from demonetisation? Can one of my sisters tell me the impact of demonetisation?
(A women responded and informed the meeting about the problems she faced due to the demonetisation)
Responding to a farmer, who apprised Shri Rahul Gandhi about various problems, Shri Gandhi said- We have a Government that is attacking the foundation of our country, the labourers, the workers, the farmers, the fishermen. It is our duty to protect the interest of the farmers, labourers, workers, weavers and fishermen, that is why I am here.
(Interacted with various farmers, where they shared their problems)
Shri Rahul Gandhi further added- So, in the last election, in our manifesto, we had come out with a revolutionary idea. Like MGNREGA, where we give guaranteed employment to rural people, we had come up with an idea to help everybody in the country. The idea was very simple. Identify the poorest families in India and give them money directly in their bank accounts. Every single poor family in India would get Rs 72,000 a year in the bank every year. That was the idea. The shocking thing was that there was more than enough money to do this easily. So, the problem in India is not a shortage of money, the problem in India is that money is never given to the poor people.
(Interacted with various farmers, where they shared their problems)
While concluding, Shri Rahul Gandhi said- It has been a pleasure for me to talk to you, to listen to you and I must say I have had a very-very nice time today. There is a lot of work that we have to do to protect the interest of the farmers, labourers, workers, poor people and we are going to work together to make sure that our future, your future is good.
