CURCHOREM: Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Tendulkar on Sunday said the BJP government has passed the farm bills to protect and empower the farmers so that they can sell their agricultural produce in the open market.
He was addressing a press conference in Curchorem in the presence Power Minister Nilesh Cabral, Curchorem and other office bearers.
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He said, “The Congress opposed the bill for the sake of opposing it and therefore all BJP MPs from the country will meet the people from October 3 to 10. There are no mandis in Goa but in other parts of the country the farmers cannot sell their produce outside mandis and in that case the middlemen from these mandis cut two per cent of actual rate from farmers which comes to crores of rupees and therefore the government has passed the bills so that farmers can sell their produce directly to any party anywhere.”
He added that in Goa cashew and areca nuts including coconut growers sell their products at Goa Bagayatdar and the Prakash Velip’s Society where they get good rates.
Tendulkar informed that for the first time soil testing has been done and accordingly cards have been issued to 22.5 crore people where they know what type of product/fruit they can cultivate.
He informed that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured the sugarcane growers that for the next five years the factory will not remain closed.
Cabral said, “The passage of the bills will give freedom to farmers to sell their produce in the open market and to anyone they want. There won’t be much effects of the bill in Goa as there are no mandis but in Belgavi the farmers have no option but to sell their produce only in the mandis. And on every Tuesday the mandis remain closed and therefore on that day no vegetables and other produce will come to Goa but with passage of this bill, this problem won’t exist.”
Cabral added that the government has given support price in Goa only to coconuts, sugarcane and cashews.
