Farm bills are an attempt to break the mandi system and abolish minimum support price, says Bharatiya Kisan Union

• Farmers have come out on the streets on the call for a 'Bharat Bandh' by several farmers' organizations, including the BKU. Most of the farmers of Punjab and Haryana are opposing these Bills.
• The BKU (Haryana) state president Guram Singh addressed farmers at Pinjore in Panchkula district.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) on Friday opposed the Agriculture Bills, saying it was an attempt to break the 'mandi system and abolish MSP (Minimum Support Price).

Farmers have come out on the streets on the call for a 'Bharat Bandh' by several farmers' organizations, including the BKU. Most of the farmers of Punjab and Haryana are opposing these Bills.

The BKU (Haryana) state president Guram Singh addressed farmers at Pinjore in Panchkula district.

Speaking to the media, he said: "Through these Bills, they (the Central government) have set up the structure to break the mandis and abolish the MSP."

Giving the example of Bihar, he said that farmers in Bihar do not get the benefit of MSP and in future Punjab and Haryana will also do the same. "Farmers will be destroyed due to non-sale of food grains on MSP," he said.

The BKU leader said this while referring to the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act which was abolished in 2006 by the Bihar government.

Guram Singh said that Friday's 'Bharat Bandh' is getting full support from the farmers. Opposing the Agriculture Bills, he said they would affect the market's middlemen, small businessmen, farmers and labourers, and only a handful of people would benefit from them.

He said that through these Bills, the central government has worked to benefit the corporates.

Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, the state president of the BKU in Punjab, told IANS that if the central government thought about the interests of farmers, the Bills would have provided a guarantee of MSP for all crops. He said that the provisions of corporate formulation made in the Bill will increase the interference of corporates in farming and will benefit multinationals.

Various farmers' organisations including the BKU are protesting against the Agriculture Bills across the country. Farmers' organisations, especially those associated with the opposition parties, are opposing these Bills.

The Bills including the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Agricultural Services Bill 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill-2020 have been approved by Parliament. These three Bills will replace the three ordinances promulgated on June 5.

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