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In Outreach to Protesting Farmers, Modi Defends Controversial Farm Laws

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defended three
   controversial laws that have triggered the biggest farm protests in
   decades and blamed opposition parties for misleading the farmers.
   But his outreach may not break the deadlock, as tens of thousands of
   farmers camped on highways outside New Delhi for the past month
   demanding concrete offers from the government to address their
   concerns.
   The farmers fear that the laws liberalizing rules for the sale of farm
   produce favor private corporations and will hurt their incomes by
   eventually ending a decades-old system under which the government buys
   some crops, such as rice and wheat, at guaranteed prices.
   In a virtual interaction Friday with farmers from six states, Modi
   assured them the legislation would benefit growers. "Through these
   agricultural reforms, we have given better options to farmers," he
   said. He also reiterated that his government will not dismantle the
   program of buying grain at what is called "minimum support price."

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