Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Thursday said the “farm Bills passed in Parliament are pro-farmers” which would not only provide better marketing facilities to the farmers to sell their produce but also go a long way in doubling their income. Thakur said APMCs and Marketing Boards would continue to function as usual and grant-in-aid to develop market yards will also continue. “The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 would create additional trading opportunities outside the APMC market yards to help farmers in getting better prices. These would also allow development of private Mandi infrastructure in the state besides improving market access for the farmers by farm gate sales/mandis,” he added. The Chief Minister said after getting the consent of the President, the Act would help in introduction of new technologies in the farm sector through private investment. Further, the buyers and investors who directly purchased farm produce from the farmers would not have to pay any market fee or cess. It will motivate reputed agri business companies to purchase directly from the farm fields, he said. Thakur said focus would be on electronic mode of transactions which would help in meeting the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding ‘One NationOne Market’. Besides, it would usher in development of cold chain infrastructure in the state as licensing would be deregulated which would ensure ease of doing business and increase investment in the agro processing sector. While accusing the Congress leaders for misleading farmers on the issue, he said that the Act would give price assurance of farm produce to the farmer at the time of sowing with better income options and they would be motivated to grow crops as per the demands of the market. “The Centre government under the able leadership of PM Modi is committed for socio-economic upliftment of the farming community and has initiated several schemes for their betterment. Till date, over Rs 92,000 crore have been directly transferred into the accounts of farmers under ‘Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna,” he added.

Stay updated with all the Latest Shimla headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.