The supreme and former PNC Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday accused the Center of demolishing three new agricultural laws without consulting the states and stated that agriculture cannot be managed “sitting in Delhi” as it involves farmers working in distant villages.
As farmers protest on the borders of Delhi Against these laws has entered its second month and five rounds of talks so far have failed to resolve the crisis, Pawar also raised questions about the composition of the three-member ministerial group. negotiating with unions, saying the ruling party should have presented leaders with “deep” knowledge of agriculture and farmers’ problems.
In an interview with the PTI, the former Union minister said that the government should take the protests seriously and that it was “unfair” on the part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. blaming opposition parties for farmers’ agitation.
He said opposition parties will accept a call on their future course of action on Wednesday if the government does not resolve the farmers’ issue in the next scheduled meeting with representatives of 40 protesting unions.
In Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar Claiming that Pawar as the then agriculture minister during the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh also wanted agricultural reforms, but did not do so due to political pressure, the PNC leader said that he certainly wanted to introduce some reforms in the sector but “ not on the road ”The BJP government has done it, and they were different from the current ones.
Pawar said he consulted all state governments before initiating reforms and did not move forward until all his reservations were resolved.
“Manmohan Singh and I also wanted to introduce some reforms in the agricultural sector, but not in the same way that the current dispensation did. At that time the Ministry of Agriculture held lengthy discussions on the proposed reforms with the agriculture ministers of all states and experts from the sector, ”said Pawar.
Ministers in some states had some strong reservations about the reforms and before making a final decision, the Ministry of Agriculture at the time wrote again to state governments seeking their opinion, he said.
Pawar, who has served as the Union agriculture minister twice, said agriculture is a rural phenomenon and requires consultation with states.
“Agriculture cannot be managed sitting in Delhi, as it involves hard-working farmers in the villages and a greater responsibility for this lies with the state governments. So when most agriculture ministers had some reservations, it was the duty of the central government and me to take them in confidence and solve their problems before moving forward, “he said.
By comparison, Pawar argued, the Center did not consult with states this time, nor did it convene any meetings with state agriculture ministers before preparing these bills.
He said The center has passed agricultural laws on the basis of his own strength in Parliament and that is why all the problems started.
“In politics and democracy, dialogue must take place,” Pawar said.
Emphasizing that the dialogue should have happened earlier, he said that the government should have spoken earlier to resolve farmers’ reservations about these laws.
“How can a government say in a democracy that it will not listen or that it will not change its line? In a way, the government swept these three bills. If the Center had consulted the state governments and taken them in confidence, then no such situation would have arisen, ”Pawar said.
He said farmers are concerned that these laws will end the MSP’s procurement system and that the government must do something to “address those concerns.”
“And for the talks, they should have put those BJP leaders at the forefront who understand the agricultural sector better. If those with in-depth knowledge of agriculture, farmers’ issues and agroeconomy were negotiating with farmers, they might have found a way to solve this problem.
“I don’t want to name anyone … but then there are those who don’t understand the sector that well,” Pawar said.
Claiming that farmers are not a priority for the Modi government, he said it is inappropriate to suggest that only farmers from 2 or 3 states are protesting these laws and there are a considerable number of people who are not happy.
“If farmers had been the government’s priority, this problem would not have continued for that long. Then they say that there are only farmers from Haryana, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh who are protesting. Have they not contributed to the overall food security of the country? ” he said.
He said the farmers do not want any political party to be associated with their upheaval, but the government has been continuously blaming opposition parties for the protests.
“The prime minister says that some political parties are behind this … No political party is behind this upheaval and farmers have clearly told political leaders not to come to their places of protest as representatives of any political group and that if anyone wants to join the agitation, they must come as farmers.
“They don’t want political or opposition parties to be associated with their agitation, but for no reason, the prime minister and others are blaming political parties and that is unfair,” Pawar said.
Speaking of his tenure as agriculture minister, Pawar said that when he took office in 2004, the first file that came to him for signature was related to the import of wheat and he was very upset.
“But then we accepted the challenge, which also with the help of the farmers, giving them a better price for their products, instilling trust and interacting with them, and India became the second largest exporter of wheat, cotton and sugar and the largest rice exporter. All this was done by the farmers of our country ”, he said.
On the future course of action of the opposition parties, Pawar said, “We are waiting for what will happen on December 30. My only suggestion is that the government should engage in serious dialogue with protesting farmers shivering from the cold on the road. “
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