Agriculture Minister counters Sharad Pawar's criticism of farm laws
Responding to Sharad Pawar's critique of the new farm laws, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said that the new farm laws will not affect the current MSP system and mandis in a series of tweets.
FollowNew Delhi: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday countered NCP President Sharad Pawar and said that the new farm laws will not affect the current MSP system and mandis.
Responding to Sharad Pawar's critique of the new farm laws, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar in a series of tweets said that new laws facilitate the promotion of additional choice channels for farmers with choice to sell their produce to anyone, anywhere with hassle-free movement in and outside the state to realize the competitive and better net price for their produce. He assured that this won't affect the current MSP system.
"Sharad Pawar ji is a veteran politician and a former Union Agriculture Minister, who is also considered well-versed with the issues & solutions relating to Agriculture. He has himself tried hard to bring the same agriculture reforms earlier."
“Since he speaks with some experience and expertise on the issue, it was dismaying to see his tweets employ a mix of ignorance & misinformation on the agriculture reforms. Let me take this opportunity to present some facts.”
"New Laws facilitate promotion of additional choice channel for farmers with choice to sell their produce to anyone, anywhere with hassle free movement in & outside the state to realize competitive & better net price for their produce. This doesn’t affect the current MSP system," Tomar said.
Further, Tomar reiterated that mandis will not be affected under the new ecosystem.
"Instead, they will be more competitive and cost-effective in terms of services and infrastructure, and both the systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest of farmers," he wrote.
He went on to add, "As he is such a veteran leader, I would like to believe that he was genuinely misinformed of the facts. Now that he has the right facts, I hope he will also change his stand & also explain the benefits to our farmers."
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha spearheading the agitation against the Centre's three agri laws said on Saturday that there was no question of closing the door on talks with the government. The farmer union's statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an all-party meeting earlier in the day that his government's offer on agri laws made to the protesting farmers "still stands" and it was a "phone call away" for talks.
