Jammu and Kashmir National Conference today demonstrated against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 besides the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 describing these as anti-peasants and anti poor. Leading the demonstrations at R. S Pura, NC District President Jammu Rural-B Mr Naresh Bitoo and the former MLA Dr Gagan Bhagat assailed the anti-farmer and anti-poor policies of the BJP led NDA government saying these bills would render the current Minimum Support Price (MSP) procurement system ineffective, leaving the vast majority of farming community at the mercy of big farmers. The NC leaders said these bills would also force the peasants to make distress sales of their hard toil to the private companies, which would be the actual beneficiaries. The move by the Centre has potential to push the farmers to the wall as the bills are aimed at allowing and facilitating contract farming and setting up of the private markets outside the physical boundaries of the ‘Agriculture Produce Market Committees’, they said adding this will hit the farmers the most. Bitto and Dr Bhagat expressed apprehensions that in the wake of these bills private operators, traders and commission agents will dictate price. This is unacceptable to those who invest a lot in land holdings in terms of their hard toil. The new legislation will upset the prevailing set up and benefit private companies the most, they maintained. The National Conference functionaries and workers, carrying placards while maintaining the mandatory pandemic protocols, marched in various markets, raising slogans against the farm bill and expressing solidarity with the mega protests launched across the country by the farmers. They said the farming community comprised the majority of Indian population and these moves have shattered the farmers across the country. They lauded the resilience of the farmers across the Jammu region for showing the spirit of unity against the passage of these bills. Prominent among those who joined the protests included Tarseem Khullar, Daljeet Kour, Madan Lal, Block President Suchetgarh, Jatinder Singh, Balbir Singh Panch, Gurdeep Singh and others.
