Nation salutes farmers, says President, backs new agri laws

NEW DELHI: In the midst of prolonged protests by farm unions, chiefly from Punjab, Haryana and

west UP

, President Ram Nath Kovind strongly backed the new farm laws as much-needed

reforms

and said that initial doubts and anxieties of a section would subside over time.


Addressing the country on the eve of the 72nd Republic Day, he said: “Economic reforms continue apace and are supplemented by long-pending reforms in areas of labour and agriculture through legislation. Path to reform at initial stages may cause misapprehensions. However, it’s beyond doubt that the government remains singularly devoted to farmer welfare.”

The President also urged people to accept the vaccines against Covid-19 and said: “I urge upon countrymen to utilise this lifeline and get vaccinated as per guidelines. Your health opens the way for your advancement.” He praised health and other frontline workers, expressing confidence that India was emerging from the pandemic.

“Our scientists, along with doctors, administrators and people from other walks of life, have made major contribution in containing the virus and keeping the fatality rate lower in our country, compared to that in developed countries,” he added. Kovind saluted the martyrs of the clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan and said the three Services were doing a yeoman duty in protecting frontiers at -50 degrees in Ladakh to the hot deserts and the vast coastlines. Healso recalled a commitment to constitutional values of “justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity that are perennial principles of our philosophy of life”.


Kovind said despite varying beliefs, icons of the freedom struggle were bound by a shared commitment to these values. Hours before protesting farmers’ unions lead a tractor parade through the national Capital, Kovind made a special mention of farmers and said the nation saluted them for ensuring that agricultural production did not suffer even during the pandemic.

“A grateful nation is fully committed to the welfare of our farmers,” the President said, while also saluting the efforts of Indian armed forces to secure the country in the severest of weather conditions on land, in skies and on seas.

Kovind commended frontline health workers who put their lives at risk to care for Covid patients. “With this accomplishment, our scientists have added a glorious chapter of contribution to the well-being of humanity,” he added. Drawing from Hindi poet Maithili Sharan Gupt’s poem, Kovind said India had benefited the most from “the feeling of fraternity” that saw Indians rising to the occasion and putting others before themselves. “We Indians live and die for humanity,” he said, adding that India converted crisis into an opportunity following the PM’s call of Atmanirbhar

Bharat Abhiyan

, which was in line with the aspiration to shape a new India by 2022 when the country turns 75.