Reliance or any other company associated with it neither conduct corporate or contract farming nor does it have the plans for future, said the company statement.
New Delhi| Reliance Jio’s mobile towers are being targeted amid the ongoing protest movement against agricultural laws. Since the beginning of the protest, the farmers have openly given calls to boycott the products of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance and Adani enterprises.
In Punjab, which has seen maximum resistance over the Farm Laws, more than 1000 Jio towers have been damaged by the farmers. The company also complained to TRAI alleging that two of its competitors Vodafone Idea and Airtel are using Farmers’ Resentment to take away many Jio customers and porting them to their networks.
Also Read: 9 Protesting Farmers Have Lost Their Lives Until Now. Who’s Responsible?
The company, however, in an attempt to escape the fallout of Farmers’ resentment has tried to dispel the rumours by issuing a statement. In a statement, RIL has clarified that it has no plan of entering the Contract Farming business. It has also appealed to the state government to take the matter to notice.
What RIL said in the statement?
- Reliance Industries Limited, Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) and any other company associated with Reliance neither conduct nor conduct corporate or contract farming. Nor does the company have any plans to enter this business in future.
- For “corporate” or “contract” farming, no Reliance or Reliance subsidiary has bought any land directly or indirectly in Haryana / Punjab or any other part of the country. Nor do we have any plans to do so in future.
- Reliance Retail is a leading company in the organized retail business in India. It sells food, cereals, fruits, vegetables and daily-use goods, apparel, medicines, electronic products to all categories of products from various brands of other companies, manufacturers and suppliers in the country. It does not buy directly from farmers. The company has never made long-term purchase contracts, nor will it ever happen, to take unfair advantage from farmers.
- Reliance and its partners are committed to enriching and empowering the farmer. Therefore, the company and its associates fully support the farmers to get fair and profitable prices of their produce produced with hard work and dedication. Reliance wants to increase farmers’ income on a permanent basis and is committed to working towards this goal.
Reliance blames rival companies
Reliance, in its statement also blames rival companies alleging their hand in the demolition of the company’s mobile towers in both states. The company has already complained to the Department of Telecommunications. However, it has not named any rival company. After this complaint, Airtel and Vodafone Idea (Vi) issued a statement and termed the charges completely baseless. These companies have also sent letters to the Department of Telecommunications in this subject.
Company presence in both states
The company said that it has a total of 40 crore customers in the country. Of this, Jio has a total of 1 crore 40 lakhs in Punjab (about 36% customers in the state) and 94 lakhs in Haryana (about 34% customers in the state) as on 31 October 2020. Only about 9,000 mobile networks in Punjab belong to Reliance Jio.
The company filed a petition in the high court
The company thanked the police of both the states of Punjab and Haryana and said that this has reduced the incidents of sabotage in recent times. However, the company has sought punitive and preventive action against the miscreants and vested selfish elements under its petition in the High Court.
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