The opposition has launched a scathing attack on PM Narendra Modi and the Central government for reducing the customs duty on apples imported from the US by 20 per cent. Speaking over the decision, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti said that PM Modi has given the US President a gift "covered in blood, toil and tears of Kashmiris". Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi asked if the government wants to give relief to apple growers in India or the US farmers.
Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday lashed out at the Centre and said that prices were brought down in Shimla by big industrialists and asked who should be given help "they (apple growers in India), or farmers in the US.
"...This will make the import (of American apples) easy and they will be sold easily. Prices of procurement of apples in Shimla have been brought down by big industrialists. When the apple growers are suffering here, who should be helped? They, or the farmers in the US?..."
Gandhi made comments in Himachal Pradesh where she is visiting Kullu and Manali to take of the situation in the flood-affected areas.
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, "...There has been an estimated loss of Rs 10 thousand crore in Himachal Pradesh, where about 14% of the GDP comes from apple orchards...Today the people there need help, but PM Modi is doing injustice to more than 5 lakh apple farmers by reducing the import duty on Washington apples..."
On the other hand, Mufti said, "I think is a big joke by the Prime Minister...J&K has been going through a tough time for last 30-40 years and the fruit industry is an industry which kept J&K alive all these years...To appease Biden, PM Modi has given him a gift that is covered in blood, toil and tears of Kashmiris..."
"I think this is being done deliberately...I think they have placed knives to the throats of people and apple-growers of J&K," Mufti added.
National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah also criticised the Centre over the move and said it did not think about the impact it would have on Jammu and Kashmir’s economy.
"To appease the US, they want to finish the local growers. I appeal to the Government of India to not take a step that would increase the poverty that is already here and we get stuck in another crisis...If they don't make it easy for the people, we will take to the street and protest," he said.
What Exactly Did Centre Say?
In June this year, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said that "with the decision of resolution of six outstanding World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes between the US and India through mutually agreed solutions as jointly communicated during the official state visit of the Prime Minister to the USA, India will remove additional duties on eight US products, including apples, leading to restoration of market access for Indian steel and aluminum exports to the US".
An official release by the ministry. however, said that the decision will not result in any negative impact on domestic apple producers, adding that it "will result in competition in premium market segment ensuring better quality at better prices for consumers".
The customs duty was earlier 70 percent which was reduced by 20 percent by the government. Then earlier this month, just days before PM Modi and Biden's bilateral meet on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, the finance ministry enforced the decision reducing the import duty.