New Delhi : Former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Sunday accused the BJP-led NDA Government of trying to stall various programmes and policies implemented by the former UPA regime for the benefits of the poor and farmers.
Addressing the Congress Party’s ‘Kisan Mazdoor Samman’ rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Dr. Singh said the purpose of this rally was to thwart the design of the government in this regard. “The UPA government had passed the Land Acquisition Bill in Parliament in 2013 for the benefit of the farmers, but the “anti-farmer” Modi government has repeatedly and forcefully been trying to weaken it. The NDA Government brought three ordinances in this regard, which were defeated by joint efforts of the Congress and other opposition parties that left the Modi government to save its face,” said Dr. Singh.
He, however, said, the struggle against the designs of the NDA Government has just begun and it requires much more efforts because the UPA regime had made many more programmes for the benefits of the farmers and labourers. “The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is one of such programmes through which the government can ensure earnings to the farmers and labourers, but the effort is on to weaken it,” he added.
Apart from these, efforts were on to weaken the Public Distribution System and the Food Security Act passed by the UPA in 2013, and denial of appropriate price to the peasants for their produce, said Dr. Singh, while asking the farmers and labourers to be cautious to effectively counter the anti-farmer and anti-poor NDA government. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi also spoke during the rally.
