Ahead of Budget session, TMC demands repeal of farm laws

New Delhi: Ahead of the Budget Session, commencing on January 29, the fourth largest party in Lok Sabha and third largest party in Rajya Sabha, Trinamool Congress, once again demanded a new Bill for farmers, repealing the three existing laws. Staying firm on its stand, the leadership said, "There is no question of short cuts or rewriting."

Senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha member Derek O'Brien informed media persons on Monday that the party supremo Mamata Banerjee's commitment on the issue of land and farmers remains same.

"In the upcoming Parliament session, the government must introduce a Bill and turn it into an Act to repeal the three farm laws. We all witnessed how these were passed in the Rajya Sabha and how the Democracy was murdered," O'Brien added.

He is one of the eight MPs suspended from the House against passing the Bills during the last Parliament Session.

Comparing the PM Kisan scheme of the Centre to the Krishak Bandhu scheme of the West Bengal government, he asserted that, "Under the Krishak Bandhu scheme, a farmer gets Rs 5,000 per acre, while under the PM Kisan scheme, a farmer gets Rs 1,214 per acre."

Further, highlighting the farmers' friendly points of Mamata government-run scheme, the senior Parliamentarian also said that in Bengal, there is scope for all the farmers, while under the PM Kisan scheme, the benefits will be received only by small and marginal farmers with up to 2 hectares of land.

The Krishak Bandhu's coverage is 100 per cent in the state, while PM Kisan has a coverage of only 92 per cent, he added.

O'Brien also claimed that under the Bengal government scheme, if a farmer between the age of 18 and 60 years dies, his family gets a benefit of Rs 2 lakh, but there is no such provision under the PM Kisan scheme in case of a farmer's sudden death.

Meanwhile, being contemptuous of saffron resurgence, the TMC leader is quite confident that "2021 will be a disastrous electoral year for Bharatiya Janata Party". " BJP is having 'zero chance' in three of four poll-bound states," O'Brien said. He feels that the real big election would be the general election in 2024.

Saugata Roy, another senior Lok Sabha MP also addressed the press conference and said the TMC would have no issue if 1,000 companies of paramilitary forces (one lakh jawans) were deployed in West Bengal for the smooth conduct of the assembly elections. "It is up to the Election Commission to decide and then arrange the deployment in consultation with the Union Home Ministry," Roy added.

"All we want is that the BJP or central ministers should not be going around saying so much security personnel were being deployed in West Bengal for the elections, they will teach a lesson to TMC, and so on," he also mentioned.

Both the TMC leaders claimed that Swasthta Sathi was started in 2016, funded by the incumbent WB government, whereas the Ayushman Bharat scheme by the Centre started in 2017. It covers only 40 per cent of population. Another Kanyashree was started in 2013, whereas the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' is a bad copy of Bengal's scheme. UN recognised Bengal's scheme, they claimed.