Drill some sense into PM: Digvijaya Singh to Sharad Pawar over farmer protests

Backing Nationalist Congress Party NCP chief Sharad Pawars critique of the new farm laws senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday asked the former Union Agriculture Minister to drill some sense into Prime Minister Narendra ModiYou are absolutely correct Pawar Saheb Why dont you drill some sense into Modi ji He has always held you in high esteem Singh tweeted while quoting Pawars sixtweet response to the central government over old farm reform plansPawar the Union Agriculture Minister for ten years in Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs government had on Saturday posted a critique of the new farm laws against which farmers have been protesting at different borders of Delhi for over two monthsPawar said the new central laws will adversely affect the Minimum Support Price MSP and weaken the mandi systemReform is a continuous process and no one would argue against the reforms in the APMCs or Mandi System a positive argument on the same does not mean that it is done to weaken or demolish the system he tweetedDuring my tenure the draft APMC Rules 2007 were framed for the setting up of special markets thereby providing alternate platforms for farmers to market their commodities and utmost care was also taken to strengthen the existing Mandi system he addedSupporting the farmers stand that the new laws will result in loss of income Pawar said New agricultural laws restrict the powers of Mandi system ie the collection of levy and fees from the private markets dispute resolution agritrade licencing and regulations of EtradingNew laws will adversely impact the MSP procurement infrastructure thereby weakening the Mandi system MSP mechanism has to be ensured and strengthened further he addedPawar said he was also concerned about the amended Essential Commodities ActI am also concerned about the amended Essential Commodities Act According to the act the Govt will intervene for price control only if rates of horticultural produce are increased by 100 per cent and that of non perishable items increase by 50 per cent he tweetedStock piling limits have been removed on food grain pulses onion potato oilseeds etc It may lead to apprehensions that Corporates may purchase commodities at lower rates and stock pile and sell at higher prices to consumers he addedHeightened security deployment has continued at the Singhu border DelhiHaryana border as farmers protest against three agriculture laws entered the 67th day on SundayWhile the protest at Ghazipur border by the farmers DelhiUttar Pradesh border has entered Day 65 Security has been increased as more farmers are coming to the protest site for the past twothree daysThe next round of talks between the farmers and the centre is scheduled for February 2Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 2020 against the farm laws Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce Promotion and Facilitation Act 2020 the Farmers Empowerment and Protection Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities Amendment Act 2020This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever