Defence Minister Rajnath Singh Sunday said that attempts to "mislead" farmers on the recent agriculture laws will not succeed.
Addressing a state-level function to mark the third anniversary of the Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in Himachal Pradesh, he said the new laws will raise the income of farmers, but the Congress was misleading them.
Whenever a reform is effected it takes a few years before it starts showing positive results, Singh said in his virtual address.
Be it the 1991 economic reforms brought in by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh or other ones enacted during the Vajpayee government, it took four-five years to see their positive results, he added.
"Similarly, if we can't wait for four-five years, we can wait for at least two years to witness positive results of the agriculture reforms carried out by the Narendra Modi government," the defence minister added.
Thousands of farmers have been protesting since last month at the Singhu border against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. They are demanding the repeal of the three laws.
Enacted in September, the three farm laws have been projected by the Centre as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell their produce anywhere in the country.
However, the protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of the MSP and do away with the "mandi" (wholesale market) system, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.
