Taking Sharad Pawar to task for his repeated criticism of the farm laws promulgated by the Central Government, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday said it was dismaying to witness the NCP chief’s ignorance and misinformation on the agricultural reforms while highlighting the former himself firmly tried earlier to bring the same agriculture reforms.
“Since he speaks with some experience and expertise on the issue, it was dismaying to see his tweets employ a mix of ignorance & misinformation on the agriculture reforms. Let me take this opportunity to present some facts,” Tomar said in a tweet.
The Union Agriculture Minister said the new laws do not affect the current MSP sustem.
“New Laws facilitate promotion of additional choice channel for farmers with choice to sell their produce to anyone, anywhere with hassle free movement in & outside the state to realize competitive & better net price for their produce. This doesn’t affect the current MSP system,” he tweeted.
Tomar further said mandis are not affected under the new ecosystem.
“Instead, they will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure; and both the systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest of farmers,” he added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Under new ecosystem, mandis are not affected. Instead, they will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure; and both the systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest of farmers.</p>— Narendra Singh Tomar (@nstomar) <a href="https://news.abplive.com/news/india/pm-modi-addresses-the-nation-on-2021-s-first-mann-ki-baat-1441864">January 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Taking a jibe at Pawar, the Union Minister said the NCP was genuinely misinformed of the facts.
“As he is such a veteran leader, I would like to believe that he was genuinely misinformed of the facts. Now that he has the right facts, I hope he will also change his stand & also explain the benefits to our farmers,” Tomar said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As he is such a veteran leader, I would like to believe that he was genuinely misinformed of the facts. Now that he has the right facts, I hope he will also change his stand & also explain the benefits to our farmers.</p>— Narendra Singh Tomar (@nstomar) <a href="https://news.abplive.com/business/budget/budget-2021-humanoid-robot-alton-requests-finance-minister-nirmala-sitharaman-for-a-future-ready-budget-1441882">January 31, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Tomar’s outburst came a day after Pawar, who held the Agriculture Ministry portfolio in the UPA regime, in a series of tweets said the three farm laws will impact the MSP procurement infrastructure besides weakening the mandi system.
“New laws will adversely impact the MSP procurement infrastructure thereby weakening the Mandi system. MSP mechanism has to be ensured and strengthened further,” he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New agricultural laws restrict the powers of Mandi system i.e. the collection of levy and fees from the private markets, dispute resolution, agri-trade licencing and regulations of E-trading.</p>— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) <a >January 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The farmers have been protesting against the three farm laws. They have so far held 11 rounds of talks with the ruling dispensation and demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led regime to repeal the laws passed by the Parliament in September last year.