Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing an event in his constituency Varanasi on Monday spoke on the farm laws and said they are giving better access to markets — both national and international.

“But if someone thinks that the earlier system is better, how is this law stopping anyone,” he added.

“The reforms have given farmers new options and safeguards,” PM Modi said.

“Earlier, any transactions outside a mandi were considered illegal. This was against small farmers who could not even reach mandis. Now even the smallest of farmers can legally operate outside mandis . So farmers have got new options and also got legal safeguards to stop them from getting fleeced,” PM said.

In a separate development, a day after the farmers rejected the proposal of talks from Amit Shah, the Home Minister along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met last night at BJP chief JP Nadda’s Delhi house.

The 2-hour long meeting comes after the reports said that agitating farmers are planning to block five entry points to Delhi.

Yesterday, the protesting farmers had rejected home minister Amit Shah’s proposal for an early discussion on their grievances.

The farmers said the government should have approached with “an open heart” and not put preconditions. The farmers’ decision came after a meeting this morning to discuss the Home Minister’s offer.

It is to be noted that Amit Shah had said that if the farmer unions want talks with the government before December 3, they have to shift to the grounds at Burari to hold their protest in a structured manner.

The farmers’ decision comes hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his Mann ki Baat show said, “The new farm laws have opened the doors of opportunity for the Indian farmers.”

He said that the demands that the framers ‘made over the years’ which every government had promised to meet has ‘finally been met.’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his visit to Varanasi today, dedicated to the Nation the widening of Varanasi- Prayagraj (NH-19) at 02:30 PM.

The 73 Km stretch of the newly widened and six laned NH19, made with a total outlay of Rs 2447 crore, is expected to reduce the travel time between Prayagraj and Varanasi by one hour.

PM will depart from Raj Ghat & will view Dev Deepawali celebrations from Raj Ghat to Chet Singh Ghat. He will arrive at Ravidas Ghat Jetty at 07:00 PM. He will pay floral tributes to the Statue of Saint Ravidas.

Dev Deepawali, which has become a world famous festival of light and fervour in Varanasi, is celebrated on every Poornima of the Kartik month. The festival will be started by the Prime Minister by lighting a diya on the Raj Ghat of Varanasi, which will be followed by lighting of 11 lakh diyas on both sides of River Ganges.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will also undertake a site visit of the under construction Kashi Vishwanath Temple Corridor Project to review its progress. He will also see the Light and Sound show at the archaeological site of Sarnath, which had been inaugurated by him earlier this month.