New Delhi: Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), through its subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, on Monday urged the Punjab and Haryana High Court to direct Punjab Government to stop vandalism forthwith against the company’s infrastructure in the state, currently agitated due to the farmers’ agitation.
In a petition, the company sought an urgent intervention of the State government to completely stop “illegal acts of vandalism by miscreants”, according to a RIL release.
These acts of violence have endangered the lives of thousands of its employees and caused damage and disruption to the vital communications infrastructure, sales, and service outlets run by its subsidiaries in the two states, it said.
“The miscreants indulging in vandalism have been instigated and aided by vested interests and our business rivals. Taking advantage of the ongoing farmers’ agitation near the national capital, these vested interests have launched an incessant, malicious and motivated vilification campaign against Reliance, which has absolutely no basis in truth”.
“Reliance has nothing whatsoever to do with the three farm laws currently debated in the country, and in no way benefits from them. As such, the sole nefarious purpose of linking the name of Reliance to these laws is to harm our businesses and damage our reputation”, the company said.
It said none of the Reliance group companies have done any “corporate” or “contract” farming in the past and had no plans to enter this business. Besides, none of them have purchased any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India for the purpose of “corporate” or “contract” farming.
Also, Reliance Retail does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers, nor has it entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain an unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so.
Asserting that Reliance has “immense gratitude and the greatest respect for India’s kisans” the company said it is committed to doing everything to enrich and empower them. “As customers of their services, we believe in building a strong and equal partnership with Indian farmers on the basis of shared prosperity, inclusive development, and an equitable New India.
“Indeed, we shall insist on our suppliers to strictly abide by the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism, and/or any other mechanism for a remunerative price for farm produce, as may be determined and implemented by the government.”
According to RIL, it has actually benefited the farmers. As of October 31, 2020, Jio had more than 1.40 crore subscribers in Punjab (approximately 36% subscribers in the state) and 94 lakh in Haryana (34 % subscribers). “Unlike the vested interests, Jio has not resorted to any coercive or unlawful measures to win over customers.”
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jio’s network became a lifeline for millions of farmers and others. It helped kisans, traders, and consumers to participate in digital commerce and enabled professionals to work-from-home, and students to learn-from-home.
Thanking the authorities for action against miscreants so far, which has reduced incidents of vandalism recently, Reliance said it has urged the High Court to take punitive and deterrent action against miscreants and vested interests so that Reliance can run all its businesses smoothly in Punjab and Haryana once again.
(VP)
