MPCC writes to Prez, seeks repeal of farm bills

SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), in a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind, has urged the latter to ensure that the “three black laws” are repealed.
The memorandum was handed over to Raj Bhavan, Shillong, after the MPCC convened a meeting at Congress Bhawan on Monday, following the announcement of the protest programme by the central leadership of Congress against the contentious farm bills.
In the meeting, the MPCC conferred about the impact of the bills on farmers including “end of Minimum Support Price (MSP), allowing of unregulated market and entry of rich private business houses, and end of cooperative federalism in Constitution, besides the tremendous impact on employment in agricultural sector,” the MPCC said in a statement issued here.
The meeting was led by James S Lyngdoh, working president of MPCC, Bajop Pyngrope, secretary, and George B Lyngdoh.
The party office-bearers, MLAs, MDCs, ex-MLAs, ex-MDCs, presidents and members of district units of Congress among others attended the protest programme.
In the memorandum, the MPCC lashed out at the Centre, stating that the Modi government has “unleashed a diabolical conspiracy against India’s farmers and fanning sector”.
“The Union government is conspiring to defeat the ‘Green Revolution’ by bringing in the captioned anti-farmer bills. This is a well-designed conspiracy to destroy the ‘Anndata’ farmer and the agriculture at the altar of a handful of crony capitalists,” the memorandum said.
Stating that as many as 62 crore farmers and farm labourers are agitating across the country against the bills, the MPCC informed that over 250 farmers’ organisations are sitting in dharna, going on hunger strikes and demonstrating across the length and breadth of India.
Hitting out at the Centre, the MPCC, in the memorandum, said that the Centre is “dictatorially subverting the voice of farmers’ representatives inside Parliament and has unleashed a draconian Lathi-Danda regime on the protesting farming community”.
“Travesty of justice is being replayed by the BJP while bringing the three anti-agriculture laws, aimed at abolishing the livelihoods of farmers,” it said.
The memorandum also interpreted the protest of the stakeholders resonating across the country.
The MPCC mentioned that abolishing the system of grain market – vegetable market (i.e. APMC) will totally destroy the Agriculture Produce Procurement System. In such a scenario, the farmers will neither get the Minimum Support Price (MSP) nor the price of their crop as per the market price, it said.
The government’s claim that the farmers will now get to sell their produce anywhere in the country is a “white lie”, it added.
The mandi system will snatch away the livelihoods of millions of labourers, commission agents, transporters etc, the MPCC said.
Citing experts’ views, the MPCC said that under the garb of the bills, the Centre intends to implement the ‘Shanta Kumar Committee Report’ so that it is not compelled to make procurement at MSP through Food Corporation of India and hence, save an amount of Rs 1 lakh crore annually. “This will directly cause adverse effects on the agricultural and farming community,” the memorandum stated.