Thousands of farmers are protesting against the three farm laws and the country’s two richest men - Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani.
The new farm law shook the nation as it saw protest from not only farmers from Punjab and Haryana but farmers from other states also joined in. The opposition has also raised its voice against the farm laws, alleging that it will benefit Adani and Ambani and not the farmers.
The farmers in the country believe that the new laws have been drafted to benefit large corporations, eliminating safeguards for farmers and leaving them vulnerable.
The escalating protests has now forced Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries to break its silence. The company in its statement on Monday said the company has absolutely no plans to enter contract farming and it has greatest respect for the farmers.
“Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), or any other affiliate of our parent company, i.e. Reliance Industries Limited have not done any “corporate” or “contract” farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business,” the company’s statement read.
Claiming that Reliance Retail, which is the country’s largest retail distributor, has no vested interests, the company’s statement said, “It (Reliance Retail) has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so.”
It further said, it always insists on its suppliers to strictly abide by the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism for remunerative prices for farm products.
Meanwhile, the farmers said they are willing to protest for six months or more if needed. Many celebrities and pop artists from Punjab have also come out in support of the farmers.
According to reports, so far, over 1,500 of the 9,000 towers of Reliance Jio in the two states have been damaged. Hence, Reliance Industries has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday and “has sought the urgent intervention of government authorities to bring a complete stop to the illegal acts of vandalism by miscreants.”
