Namaskar to my farmer brothers and sisters from all over the country, the central government cabinet ministers who are attending this programmefrom different parts of the country, ministers of state governments, all the elected public representatives from panchayat to Parliament and all those who are sitting amongst the farmers in all the villages.

It increases our happiness when we see happiness in the lives of farmers and today is also a very auspicious day. Today is a confluence of many occasions besides the Samman Nidhi that the farmers have received today. Greetings to all the countrymen on Christmas today. I wish this Christmas festival spread love, peace and harmony in the world.

Friends,

Today is MokshadaEkadashi, Gita Jayanti. Today is also the birth anniversary of Bharat RatnaMahamana Madan Mohan Malaviyaji. Today is also the birth anniversary of the great Karma Yogi of the country, our inspiration, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. In his memory, the country is also celebrating Good Governance Day today.

Friends,

Atal ji made a constant effort to live his life in accordance with the messages of the Gita. It is written in the Gita स्वे स्वे कर्मणि अभिरत: संसिद्धिम् लभते नरः, that is, those who do their natural deeds promptly get attainment.  Atal ji also devoted his entire life to the nation by carrying out his deeds with all sincerity. Atal ji made good governance a part of India's politics and social discourse. Atal ji gave top priority to the development of the villages and the poor. Whether it is the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana or the Golden Quadrilateral scheme, the Antyodaya Anna Yojana or the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Atal ji took a number of steps to bring about a meaningful change in the national life. Today, the entire country is remembering him and bowing down to Atal ji. In a way, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was also the architect of the agricultural reforms that the country has brought to fruition.

Friends,

Atal ji considered corruption in all schemes in the interests of the poor and the farmers as a national disease. You all would remember, he once recalled a statement of a former prime minister to the previous governments with sarcasm and reminded them by saying that “If the rupee is in vogue, it gets worn and when it is worn, it goes into hands and slips into pockets slowly.” I am happy that today neither the rupee is worn nor it goes into the wrong hand. The money that is released for the poor from Delhi goes straight into his bank account. Just now, our Agriculture Minister Narendra Ji Tomar has placed it before us in detail. PM KISAN SammanNidhi is a good example of this.

Today, more than 18,000 crore rupees have been deposited in the bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmer households in the country directly with the click of a computer. Ever since the scheme has been launched, more than 1,10,000 crore rupees have reached the accounts of farmers and that is what good governance all about. Good governance has been used through technology. More than 18,000 crore rupees have been deposited directly into the farmers' bank accounts in a moment.No commission, no cut, no rigging. Using technology, the PM KISAN Samman Yojana has ensured that there is no leakage. The system has been created after the online registration of farmers, verification of their Aadhaar number and bank accountsthrough the state governments. But, I also regret today that more than my 70 lakh farmer brothers and sisters in West Bengal are not able to avail the benefits of the scheme which is benefiting the farmers of the entire country, and the governments of different ideologies are part of it. They are not getting this money due to the government of Bengal for its political reasons. The state government does not have to spend a penny, as the money goes from the Government of India, but still they are not getting the money. Many farmers have also written letters to the Government of India, but it does not even take note of it. Can you imagine that lakhs of farmers have applied online to avail the scheme, but the state government has put it on hold?

Brothers and sisters,

I am surprised and today I want to say with great pain and anguish before the countrymen that the people who ruled Bengal for 30 years and who brought the conditions in West Bengal down to such a leveldue to their political ideology, the entire country knows and if you listen to Mamata ji’s 15-year-old speeches, it will be known how much this political ideology had ruined Bengal. Now, what kind of these people are? They have their party in Bengal, they have their organisation, they have run the government for 30 years, and how many people will they have? Not once did they launch any agitation in Bengal for the scheme which could have given Rs. 2,000 to the farmers. If you had so much love for the farmers in your heart, why did you not agitate for the justice of your farmers in Bengal who could have got money under the Pradhan Mantri KISAN Samman Yojana?  Why did you never raise yourvoice? Questions will be asked as you went to Punjab from there. And look at the government of West Bengal. Politics comes in between when 70 lakh farmers in their state have to get so much money, thousands of crores of rupees. And they remain silent to those who go to Punjab but are their adversaries in Bengal. Do the people of the country not understand this game? Are the people of the country not aware of this game? Those who are in opposition, why are their mouth shut, why are they silent?

Friends,

Today, the people of those political parties which have been rejected by the people, are doing something, doing event management so that someone takes their selfie, or their photograph is published or they are seen on TV so that they can further their politics. But the country has seen those people also. They have been exposed before the country. We are closely watching a very mean example of politics of selfishness. The parties which do not speak on the harms of the farmers in West Bengal are here to harass the citizens of Delhi. They are ruining the country's economy and that too in the name of the farmers. You may have heard these partieswhich are shouting about mandis and are talking about APMC and making speeches to gain big headlines.It is the same parties with those flags and ideologies who have ruined Bengal. They have their government in Kerala. Before this, the people who ruled the country for 50-60 years ran the government there. Kerala does not have APMC and mandis. I just want to ask them who are busy seeing themselves in photos here to hold agitation in Kerala for APMC. You have time to confuse the farmers of Punjab but why don’t you bat for this system in Kerala. If this system is good then why should it not be there in Kerala? Why are you following this double standard policy? What kind of politics they are doing where there is no argument and fact. Just make false allegations, spread rumours and scare our gullible farmers who sometimes get misledby you.

Brothers and sisters,

These people are not willing to accept any barometer or parameter of democracy. They are just looking at their own gains and selfishness. What I am telling you has nothing to do with farmers. Those who raise their flags in the name of farmers and who are playing games will have to listen to the truth.  Those who have abused and insulted farmers can’t escape. These people are searching for a herb to survive in the political arena by jostling for place in newspapers and media. But the farmers of the country have recognisedthem and they are never going to give them these survival herbs. They have the right to do politics in democracy, we are not opposing that. But do not play with the lives of innocent farmers, do not play with their future, do not mislead them and do not confuse them.

Friends,

These are the people who have been in power for years. The agriculture and farmers of the country could not grow as much as it had the potential because of their policies. The farmer who had neither much land nor resources was hit the hardest because of the policies of the earlier governments. The small farmer did not get money from the banks because he did not even have a bank account. The benefit of the crop insurance scheme in the earlier times was available to a very few small farmers. A small farmer did not get water or electricity to irrigate his field. The poor farmer who would produce whatever little in his field by sweating his blood would find it difficult to sell it. There was no one to listen to this small farmer. And, today, I would like to remind the countrymen that the number of these farmers in the country is not small against whom injustice has been done. They are more than 80 per cent and number about 10 crores. Those who have been in power for so many years had left these farmers on their own. Elections were taking place, governments were formed, reports kept on coming, commissions were formed, promises made and forgotten. All these things happened, but the farmer’s condition did not change. What was the result? The poor farmers became poorer. Was it not necessary to change this situation in the country?

My farmer brothers and sisters,

Our government began to work with a new approach after we came to power in 2014. We focused on the small difficulties of the farmers of the country and the modernisation of agriculture simultaneously to prepare them for future needs.We used to hear very much that the cultivation in that country is so modern and the farmers are so prosperous. We would often hear the example of Israel. We studied in depth all the things, including the revolution in the agriculture sector all over the world, the changes that have happened, the new initiatives and what are the things that have been connected with the economy. Then we made separate goals and started working on all simultaneously. We worked with a goal to ensure there should be less spending bythe country’s farmers on farming, input cost should be less and his overall costsremain low. We launched schemes like Soil Health Card, neem coating of urea, setting up of lakhs of solar pumps one after another to reduce their input cost. Our government made an attempt so that farmers have a better crop insurance cover. Today, crores of farmers of the country are getting the benefit of the PM Crop insurance scheme.

And my dear farmer brothers and sisters,

Now, when I was talking to farmer brothers, I was told by Ganesh ji from Latur district of our Maharashtra that he got around Rs. 54,000 in return after paying a premium of Rs. 2,500. Farmers have received a claim amount of Rs. 87,000 crore in the last one year in lieu of nominal premium. It’s almost 90,000 crore rupees. The farmers paid a nominal premium and this crop insurance came to their rescue in times of distress. We also worked with an objective that the farmers of the country have adequate irrigation facilities.We are also promoting micro irrigation with the mantra of per drop more crop across the country with the completion of decades old irrigation schemes and I am happy that our Subramaniam ji from Tamil Nadu was telling me that he had work for one acre before drip irrigation, which increased to three acres and he earned Rs 1 lakh more than before.

Friends,

Our government has endeavouredto ensure that farmers of the country get fair prices for the crops. We have given one and a half times the cost to the farmers, as per the report of the Swaminathan Committee which was hanging fire. The MSP was available on a very few crops, we also increased the number of crops. Earlier, the announcement of MSP was made through a small news item in the newspapers. As a result, the benefits did not reach the farmers. There were no scales, and, therefore, there was no change in the life of the farmers. Today, there are record government purchases at MSP, and record money is reaching the pockets of the farmers. Those who are agitating in the name of farmers today were sitting silent during their rule. All these people, who are behind the agitation, were part of the government and sat on the report of the Swaminathan Committee for years. We dug out the report because we want to better the lives of the farmers. This is the mantra of our life and therefore we are doing it.

Friends,

We also worked in the direction so that the farmer should not depend on only one mandi, he should have an option and a market to sell his crops. We connected more than 1,000 agricultural markets in the country online. The farmers have done business over one lakh crore rupees though this. The farmers have started selling online.

Friends,

We set another target of creating a group of small farmers so that they could work as a collective force in their areas. A campaign is underway to create more than 10,000 Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and they are being provided financial assistance. We were listening to Ramgulabji of Maharajganj that he formed a group of 300 farmers and they have started selling produce one a half times more compared to earlier. They created FPO, took scientific help in farming and today they are benefiting.

Friends,

The biggest requirement of our agriculture sector is storage near the village itself and the availability of modern facilities of cold storage to our farmers at a lower price. Our Government also gave priority to it. Today, the government is investing crores of rupees to develop a cold storage network across the country. Our policies also emphasized that the farmer should also have other options to increase income besides cultivation. Our government is also encouraging fisheries, animal husbandry, dairying and beekeeping. Our government also ensured that the money of the banks of the country should be of help to the farmers. In 2014, when we formed the government for the first time, there was a provision of Rs. 700,000 crore of farmer loans which has now been doubled to Rs. 14,00,000 crore. In the last few months, about 2.5 crore small farmers have been linked with the Farmer Credit Card and the campaign is moving at a fast pace. We are also giving Farmer Credit Card benefits to fish and cattle farmers.

Friends,

We have also studied the agricultural practices in the world and worked on the goal to have modern agricultural institutions in the country. In the past few years, many new agricultural institutions have been set up in the country and agricultural education seats have increased.

And friends,

With all these farming related efforts, we also worked on another big goal. The goal is to make the life of a farmer living in the village easier.

Friends,

The farmers of the country know very well what they did to alleviate their sufferings when they were in power and who are shedding so many tears for the farmers today, making such big statements and expressing great sorrow. Not just farming, our government has reached the doorsteps of the farmers to make their life easier. Today, the small and marginal farmers of the country are getting their pucca houses, toilets and piped clean water. It is the farmer who has benefited a lot from the free electricity and gas connections. The facility of free treatment up to Rs. 5 lakh under Ayushman Bharat Scheme every year has reduced the big worry of my small farmer's life today. Insurance at a premium of 90 paise per day, which is less than the price of a cup of tea, and one rupee a month, is a great force in the lives of my farmers. The security cover of a monthly pension of Rs. 3, 000 after the age of 60 years is also available to the farmers today.

Friends,

Nowadays, some people are pretending to worry about the farmer's land. We are aware of the names who have grabbed the land of the farmers and their names have shone frequently in newspapers.Where were these people when farmers' houses and land were occupied illegally in the absence of ownership documents? Who deprived the small and marginal farmers and farm labourers from this right for so many years? These people do not have the answer. It is being done today for our brothers and sisters living in the villages. Now, the farmers in the villages are being given their houses, land maps and the legal documents.With the help of technology, the farmers in the villages have also been able to secure loans from banks against their land and house following the Swamitva Yojana.

Friends,

It is equally necessary to expand one’s approach with changing times. We have to modernize India's agriculture in the 21st century and crores of farmers of the country have taken up this responsibility and the government is also committed to move forward with them. Today, every farmer knows where he can find the best price for his produce. What happened earlier was that if the farmer did not get better prices in the mandi or his produce was rejected on the grounds of inferior quality, he was forced to sell his produce at throwaway prices. We have given better options to the farmers through these agricultural reforms. After these laws, you can sell your produce wherever you want or to anybody you wish.

My farmer brothers and sisters,

Listen to these words of mine carefully. I am saying it again that you can sell your crop wherever you want as per your decision. You can sell the produce where you get the right price. Do you want to sell your produce at MSP?  You can sell it. Do you want to sell your produce in the mandi? You can sell it. Do you want to export your produce? You can export. Do you want to sell it to the merchant? You can sell. Do you want to sell your produce in another state? You can sell. Do you want to sell the entire produce of the farmers of the village through FPOs? You can sell it. Do you want to be part of the value chain of biscuits, chips, jam and other consumer products? You can also do it. If the farmers of the country are getting so many rights, what is wrong with it? What is wrong with it if the farmers are getting the option to sell their produce online throughout the year and anywhere?

Friends,

Today, innumerable lies are being spread about new agricultural reforms. Some people are spreading confusion among the farmers that MSP is being abolished while some others are spreading rumours that the mandis will be closed. I would like to remind you again that many months have passed since these laws came into force. Have you heard the news of the closure of a single mandi in any part of the country? As far as MSP is concerned, the government has in recent times also increased the minimum support price of many crops. It has happened even after agricultural reforms, even after new agricultural laws. There are many true and innocent farmers in the agitation that is going on in the name of farmers.Most of the people are good and innocent farmers, except a few of them whoare political-minded leaders.If you ask them secretly how much land you have, what do you produce, did you sell your produce this time or not? He will also tell you that he has sold the produce at MSP. When the purchases under MSP were being done, they had silenced that agitation because they were aware that the farmer was selling his produce in the mandis. When all that was sold and the work done, they started the agitation.

Friends,

The fact is that the government has purchased the farmers’ produce on the increased MSP at a record level and that too after the new laws were enacted. And one important thing, the government has only increased its responsibilities through these agricultural reforms! Take, for example, the agreement farming. In some states, including Punjab, these laws, these provisions have been there for many years. There, private companies are doing the farming through agreement. Do you know that there was a provision of penalty on the farmers in earlier laws in case of breach of agreement? No one would have explained this to my farmer brothers. But our government made these reforms and ensured that my farmer brothers would not be fined or no penalty will be levied!

Friends,

You know very well what the farmer used to do if he could not go to mandi for some reason? He sold his produce to a trader. Our government has also taken legal measures to ensure that the farmer is not taken for a ride. The buyer is now legally obliged to pay you in time. He will have to give the receipt and pay within three days, otherwise, the law empowers the farmer to go to the authorities and get his money by taking recourse to legal remedies. All these things have been done and the news is trickling in how the farmer brothers of our country are taking advantage of these laws! The government is standing with the farmer at every step. The government has made arrangements so that there is a strong law and legal system in favour of the farmer in case he wants to sell his produce to anybody.

Friends,

It is also necessary for everybody to understand another important aspect of agricultural reforms. Now, when somebody enters into an agreement with the farmer, he would also want better yield. For this, the contractor will help the farmers to get good seeds, modern technology, sophisticated equipment and expertise because it is bread and butter for him. He will make available the facilities for good yield at the doorstep of the farmer. The contractor would be fully aware of the market trend and would help our farmers to work according to market demands. Now, I will explain another situation to you. Even if, for some reason, the farmer's produce is not good or gets damaged, in that case also, the contractor will be bound to pay the agreed price of the produce in the agreement to the farmer. The contractor cannot scrap the agreement by his own choice. But, on the other hand, if the farmer wants to end the agreement for any reason, the farmer can do it, but not the other person. Is this situation not beneficial for the farmers? Isn't that the most extensive assurance to the farmer? Is there a guarantee for the benefit of the farmer or not? Another question has been raised by the people and it might also come to your mind. If the yield has been good in any case, the market becomes very attractive, and the contractor is getting more profits than the agreement, in that situation, the contractor will not only have to pay the agreed amount to the farmer, but more as a bonus due to excess profits. Isn’t it a better protection to the farmer? In such situations, apart from the price fixed in the agreement, as I said, the farmer will also be entitled to a bonus. Do you remember what happened before? The farmer used to take the entire risk and the returnswere enjoyed by someone else. Now, after the new agricultural laws and reforms, the situation has become completely in favour of the farmers. Now the entire risk will be of the person or the company which has made the agreement and the returns will accrue to the farmer!

Friends,

The agreement farming has already been tested in many parts of the country. Do you know which is the world’s highest milk production country today? This country is none other than our India!It is all because of the efforts of cattle farmers. Today, in the dairy sector, many cooperative and private companies buy milk from milk producers and sell it in the market. For how many years this model is continuing? Have you ever heard that one company or a cooperative has taken over the market and monopolized it? Are you not familiar with the success of those farmers and milk producers who have benefited from this system in the dairy sector? There is another sector where our country is far ahead –i.e., poultry. Today, India produces the highest eggs. Many big companies are working in the entire poultry sector; there are some small companies and some local buyers are also engaged in this business. People engaged in this sector are free to sell their product to anyone, anywhere. Wherever they get the highest price, they can sell eggs. We want our farmers and the agriculture sector to have the same opportunity to develop as the poultry and dairy sectors have.  When there will be many companies and different competitors in the business, the farmers will also get higher prices of their produce and their better access to the market would also be possible.

Friends,

Indian agriculture will also be introduced to new technology through new agricultural reforms. Through modern technology, our farmers will be able to increase their produce, diversify their produce, make better packaging of their produce and create value editions in their produce. Once it happens, the yield of our farmers will be in demand all over the world and the demand will increase further. Our farmers will be able to become exporters and not just producers. If anyone in the world wants to establish a market through agricultural products, he will have to come to India. If there is a need for both quality and quantity anywhere in the world, they will have to partner with the farmers of India. When we increased investment and innovation in other sectors, it led to increased income and we also established brand India in those sectors. The time has come for brand India to establish itself with the same glory in the world's agricultural markets.

Friends,

Some political parties, which have been democratically rejected by the people of the country, are not allowing these discussions to take place and misleading some of the farmers today due to some political reason or political ideology despite humble efforts on the part of the government.  In the context of agricultural laws, the people of thispolitical ideology are firing shots from the shoulders of the farmers and are hurling different issues in the name of farmers as they don’t have any concrete arguments.You must have seen when it started, they were only demanding guarantees on MSP; they had genuine apprehensions in their minds because they were farmers. But the people of this political ideology created an unfounded situation and joined the agitation putting aside the issue of MSP. These people are demanding the release of people from jail who are accused of violence. When the previous governments built modern highways, these people used to support the government because they were partners.  Now they say there will be no toll tax and vacate the toll. Why are they entering into a new territory leaving behind the issue of farmers? Now they are protesting against the policies, which have been going on, and opposing the tolls under the guise of farmers’ agitation.

Friends,

Even in such circumstances, farmers across the country have given full support to agricultural reforms, have welcomed them. I express my gratitude to all the farmers, I bow down to them as crores of the farmers of the country have stood by this decision today to take the country forward and I assure my farmer brothers and sisters that we will not allow loss of your faith. This has to be understood that in the last few days, there were panchayat elections in many states, including Assam, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. The people of the rural areas have to vote primarily and in a way the farmer has to vote. The farmers of those villages have rejected the people who were behind the agitation and defeated them when such a misleading game plan was in action and a hue and cry was being raised. In a way, they have openly supported these new laws through the ballot.

Friends,

Based on logic and fact, our decisions can be tested on every criterion. If there is any deficiency, it should be pointed out. There is democracy and we don’t claim that God has given us all the knowledge, but there should be discussion. In spite of all these things, the Government is ever ready to discuss every issue of farmers because of our unwavering faith and respect in democracy and because of our dedication to the farmers. We have an open mind for a solution. There are many parties which have been in favour of these agricultural reforms, we have also seen their written statements, they have gone back on their words now; their language has changed. The political leaders, who are trying to mislead the farmers, do not respect and trust democracy. They are known to many people in the world. I can’t even speak what these people have said in the recent past, have leveled unfounded allegations, have used the kind of language and have expressed their desires. But in spite of all these things, I say with humility to those people who are bent on resisting us that our government is ready to talk to them in the interest of the farmers, but the discussion will be on the issues, on arguments and facts.

Friends,

We are making every effort to improve the lives of the country's farmers. When you progress, the whole nation is set to progress. Only a self-reliant farmer can lay the foundation of self-reliant India. I urge the farmers of the country not to be deceived, not to accept anyone's lies and to think on the basis of logic and facts.And once again, it is a matter of great satisfaction and pride for me for the open support extended by farmers of the country. I am very grateful to you. Once again, I congratulate millions of farmer families for the PM KISAN Samman Fund. I pray for the health of you and your family and with this desire thank you all.

Thanks!

DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.

***

DS/AK/VK