New Delhi: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President & Nalgonda MP Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy accused the BJP Government of misleading the nation on the issue of new agricultural laws and providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers.
Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Congress MPs Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and A. Revanth Reddy, addressed a press conference at Telangana Bhavan in New Delhi on Wednesday to brief about the replies he got in response to three issues (Unstarred Question) which he raised in the Lok Sabha with regard to farm laws and MSP related issues.
The TPCC Chief informed that he, along with other MPs have raised three questions in the Lok Sabha pertaining to Average market price for crops; Adjudication of disputes under new farm laws and Consultation with stakeholders on-farm laws. He said Union Agriculture Minister Narender Singh Tomar gave a written reply to those Unstarred Questions on 2nd February. However, he alleged that the Union Minister gave false and misleading replies to all the questions. He said that the new Central laws were never discussed with anyone, including the farmers’ unions.
Referring to the answers given by the Union Minister, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that those replies clearly show that the Central Govt did not conduct any studies on how these laws would improve the incomes of small farmers and lead to doubling of farmers’ incomes. “The Government of India brought in the Model APMC Act, 2017 and Model Contract Farming Act, 2018. Earlier also the UPA Government brought in the Model APMC Act and accordingly, more than 20 States have brought reforms in the agricultural sector. The proposals were always about the implementation of MOdel Acts by States, and never about overriding States through Central Acts. In fact, in February 2020, the Central also announced financial disincentives to STates which do not implement the APMC reforms. So, where was the urgent need to bring Central Acts during a pandemic lockdown?” he asked.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the BJP Govt was misleading the nation by claiming that it enjoyed support for introducing the new farm laws to override the state APMC Acts. “That has never been proposed or endorsed in any of the committees or official meetings. Therefore, saying that these new Central laws have been discussed and endorsed in the last 15-20 years is utterly false,” he said.
“The Central Govt says that only six States implemented the provisions such as Direct Purchase from the farmers or De-regulation of Fruits and Vegetables. This is false. In reality, by July 2019, more than 20 States implemented most of the provisions of the Model APMC Act, 2017. This was stated by the Govt of India in its conference of State Agriculture Ministers held on 8th July 2019. This presentation is available on the Agri Ministry website,” he said.
Uttam Kumar reddy alleged that the Central Government was giving a false rationale for bringing new laws. The real reason is that the Centre wants to remove regulatory oversight by the States Governments so as to benefit big agri-business players such as Adani’s, Reliance, Walmart and Amazon. “In the name of reforms, the Central Acts create an unregulated space for companies and traders where none of the State Govt regulations applies,” he said.
The TPCC Chief alleged that TRS party has entered into a secret pact with BJP on the issue of new farm laws. He strongly condemned the silence of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on the new farms and the ongoing agitation by farmers for the last 70 days. He described KCR’s behaviour as highly insulting for farmers.
He also slammed the BJP Government for adopting an anti-democratic approach to suppress the farmers’ agitation. He said farmers, who are protesting at Delhi borders, were being deprived of basic amenities. They are being denied access to drinking water, electricity, toilets and other facilities. He said even local residents have been warned against helping the farmers. He said why farmers were being treated inhumanely despite the fact that Prime Minister Narender Modi himself has declared that the Centre would hold talks with the farmers’ unions.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that farmers, across the country, have lost over Rs. 50,000 Crore as they were unable to sell their produce at MSP. He said that the answers provided by the Union Minister clearly shows a huge difference between the MSP and the actual price for which farmers sold their produce. He said that PM Modi and his government were not serious in continuing or implementing the MSP.
The TPCC Chief said that while the Modi Govt at the Centre was harassing the farmers, KCR Govt in Telangana was exploiting the farmers. He strongly condemned CM KCR for his decision to close down the IKP and other procurement centres to purchase paddy and agricultural produce.
The Congress MPs announced full support to the ongoing agitation by farmers in Delhi. They said that the Congress party would strive hard to get justice for the farming community.
