A group of farmers, many of them Padam Shri recipients, met Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Tuesday to thank them for "revolutionary steps" taken by the government to "free the farmer" through the agriculture laws.
The meeting came even as Congress leaders are agitating against the three recently enacted farm laws. Congress has hit the roads in Punjab and Haryana led by party leader Rahul Gandhi.
The government has been reaching out to farmers on the laws.
Harpal Singh Grewal, President, Heavenly Orgc Farms, who met the ministers, described the laws as "a welcome initiative".
"I am a victim of old laws. I had brought my produce to sell at some place (outside the mandi) in the early nineties. I was taken to sales commissioner office and released later. Now the farmer is free (to sell produce anywhere)," said Grewal, who hails from Haryana.
Grewal said Congress has promised such measures but "didn't have guts to implement".
He said the issues concerning MSP will also be resolved.
The discussions between farmers and ministers lasted for over an hour. Among those who met the ministers were Sultan Singh and Narendra Singh from Haryana, Ram Sharan Verma from Uttar Pradesh and Jagdish Prasad Pareek from Rajasthan. All of them have been conferred Padma Shree.
Others who met included MJ Khan, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture and Chaudhary Pushpendra Singh, President, Kisan Shakti Sangh.
( With inputs from ANI )
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