BJP and TRS have a secret pact, says TPCC chief
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president and Nalgonda MP, N. Uttam Kumar Reddy charged Union Agriculture Minister Narender Singh Tomar of giving false replies to his questions on farm laws and said the Centre did not conduct any studies on how these laws would improve the income of small farmers and lead to doubling of their income.
Referring to the answers given by the Union Minister on three questions raised by the MPs in Lok Sabha, Mr. Reddy said the new central laws were never discussed with anyone, including the farmer unions. Mr. Reddy levelled these charges at a press conference along with Malkajgiri MP A. Revanth Reddy and Bhongir MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy in New Delhi on Wednesday.
He said the the Government of India brought in Model APMC Act, 2017 and Model Contract Farming Act, 2018. 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 implementation of Model Acts by States, and never about overriding States through the Acts of the Centre, he said.
In fact, in February 2020, the Centre also announced financial disincentives to States which do not implement the APMC reforms. So, where was the urgent need to bring the Acts during pandemic lockdown, he asked. The claims of the BJP that the laws were endorsed by several committees or in official meetings is false as these laws were never discussed and endorsed in the last 15 to 20 years, he said.
Mr. Reddy claimed that the Centre wants to remove regulatory oversight by the State governments so as to benefit big agri-business players.
“In the name of reforms, the Central Acts create an unregulated space for companies and traders where none of the State government regulations apply,” he said.
The TPCC chief also alleged that TRS has entered into a secret pact with BJP and that is why Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is silent on the new farms and the ongoing agitation by farmers for the last 70 days. He described Mr. Rao’s behaviour as highly insulting towards farmers. He said while Modi government is harassing farmers, Mr. Rao is exploting them in Telangana.
EOM
Source: Read Full Article
