Changes in farm laws to benefit farmers: Modi

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, October 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today accused the previous UPA governments of failing to make amendments to agricultural laws due to a lack of political will. He addressed a public meeting of 200 persons at Solang, near Manali, after inaugurating the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang.

He said that the laws related to agriculture were amended for the uplift of the farmers. These changes would be done in future as well to promote ‘Atmnirbhar Bharat’. He added that farmers got mere Rs 40 to Rs 50 a kilogram for their apple produce here while it was sold for around Rs 150 a kilogram in Delhi. He said that there was no account of the price escalation of agricultural produce due to the middlemen. The new laws would benefit the farmers and the consumers alike, he added.

‘Six lakh villages to be linked with optical fiber’

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Many projects are underway to improve rail, road and air connectivity in Himachal. Mobile phone and Internet connectivity will be improved in the rural areas and six lakh villages will be connected with optical fiber in the country. The project will be completed in a mission mode in 1,000 days. —Narendra Modi, Prime Minister

The Prime Minister said that the dream tunnel project of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been accomplished. He recalled that once 11 paragliders had sprinkled flowers to welcome Vajpayee during his visit to his residence at Prini, near Manali. He said that Vajpayee always wanted to improve infrastructure, connectivity and tourism in the region.

He said most of the public services had been digitalised and there was no need now to visit government offices. He added services related to banking had been reformed, saving time and money. Due to digitalisation, the scope of corruption had been curtailed.

The Prime Minister lauded the efforts of engineers, technicians and workers in accomplishing the Atal Tunnel project. He said, “The work of 20 years has been completed within six years. Their experiences and suggestions will be recorded digitally. Engineering and technical universities should send batches of students to witness this engineering marvel and do case studies on the project. Foreign students will also be invited so that the information of this achievement spreads throughout the world”.

The live broadcast of the programme was done and a large number of people watched the event on LED screens put up at various places. The tunnel has been thrown open for the commuters. The BRO authorities said that the tunnel would remain closed from 9 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 5 pm everyday.