Gautam Budh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma on Wednesday said the minimum support price (MSPs) and mandis (wholesale hubs) have not been abolished in the Farm Bills 2020, and party workers will meet farmers to remove the ‘misconception’ in a chaupal initiative.

“There is misconception that the Farm Bills 2020 are anti-farmer. In fact, the Bills open a number of options for the farmers to sell their produce at good price. The farmers will be able to directly sell their produce to private companies. In contract farming, private players will bring in new technology and invest. This will help the farmers,” Sharma said. 

Sharma was speaking at a press meet where Noida MLA Pankaj Singh and other BJP functionaries were present.

The MP reiterated that the Bills had not abolished the MSPs and the mandis. “The MSPs will continue to remain in force. The MSPs will be decided on the principal investment amount plus 50% profit,” he said.

He said contract farming policy is already in place in some states. “Contract farming is in place in Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and some other states,” he said.

In such a farming pattern, only the crops will be under contract and not of the land, he said. “In case of any dispute, the local sub-divisional magistrate will resolve the matter and the farmers need not go to court,” he said.

The GB Nagar MP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through these Farm Bills, implemented recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee Report: National Commission on Farmers. He said under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, the government had transferred Rs 93,000 crore directly in the bank accounts of 10 crore farmers.

Pankaj Singh termed the three bills as historic and said BJP workers will take the message to urban and rural areas and inform the farmers.

“There are some people who are misleading the farmers that these bills are against them. In fact, this reduces the involvement of middlemen. We will hold meetings and chaupals and inform farmers them about it,” he said.

On September 25, Bharatiya Kisan Union members had protested and blocked the Delhi-Noida border near Sector 14A in protest against the Farm Bills.