Agricultural Reforms Bills Passed in Rajya Sabha: How Will Centre Ensure Farmers Get MSP, Asks P Chidambaram
As Parliament passed the two contentious agricultural Bills on Sunday, former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram asked the government how it will guarantee that farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
New Delhi, September 20: As Parliament passed the two contentious agricultural Bills on Sunday, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram asked the government how it will guarantee that farmers get the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.
"Agriculture Minister says that government will guarantee that the farmer will get MSP. Private trade takes place even today. The price paid to the farmer is invariably less than MSP. If the Agriculture Minister can magically ensure MSP, why has he not done that so far?" he said, in a series of tweets. Agricultural Reform Bills: Rajya Sabha Passes 2 Farm Bills Amid Protests by Opposition Leaders And Farmers.
"How will the Minister know which farmer sold his produce to which trader? How will he know the millions of transactions that will take place every day all over the country? If he does not have the data, how will he guarantee MSP is paid in every transaction?" Chidambaram said. "Does the Minister and the government think that the farmers are so foolish to believe the empty promise of the government?" he added.
Here are tweets by P Chidambaram:
Charging the Modi government with not fulfilling its earlier promises, he asked if it had managed to put Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every Indian, doubled farmers incomes and created 2 crore jobs every year.
On Sunday, the Congress and other opposition parties objected to the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 as they were presented in the Rajya Sabha and demanded they be sent to a select committee.
The bills, which have already been passed by the Lok Sabha earlier this week, were subsequently passed amid protests and walkouts by opposition members.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2020 06:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).