PM Modi to address MP farmers today amid protests against farm laws

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak about the “beneficial provisions” of the new farm laws in his address to the farmers of Madhya Pradesh as part of a Kisan Kalyan Sammelan on Friday. This comes a day after hundreds of farmers from the state started a foot march from Morena in support of the agriculturists who have been protesting in Delhi for three weeks now against the controversial farm laws implemented in September.

“PM Modi will address the farmers of the state around 2 pm through video-conference and explain to them in detail the beneficial provisions of the new agricultural laws,” an official of the Madhya Pradesh public relations department on told news agency PTI on Thursday.

The PM’s address will be telecast live across 23,000 villages of the country and at all the district headquarters of Madhya Pradesh, the official said. Rs 1,660 crore will be transferred to the accounts of 35 lakh farmers by the state government to compensate for crop loss, he added.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will also attend the programme from Raisen. “The previous Congress-led state government did injustice with the farmers by not transferring relief funds into their accounts. The previous Congress government did not even deposit the premium of Fasal Bima Yojna. But BJP is determined to work for the welfare of farmers. We have already deposited the premium of Fasal Bima Yojna and are now going to transfer relief funds,” the chief minister said.

The Kisan Kalyan programme is being organised in four levels — gram panchayat, block, district and state. Nearly 20,000 farmers will take part in the state-level programme in Raisen.

The PM’s address comes in the backdrop of thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana protesting at Delhi borders since November 27, demanding that the three farm laws -- The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020 -- be scrapped.