‘Genuinely misinformed of the facts’: Union Agriculture Minister responds to NCP leader Sharad Pawar

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has responded to the allegations made by veteran NCP leader Sharad Pawar on the Centre regarding the three farms laws.

Pawar had attacked the farm laws in a series of tweets and said that it would weaken the mandi system and badly affect the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Tomar said that Sharad Pawar is a veteran politician and a former Union Agriculture Minister, who is also considered well-versed with the issues & solutions relating to Agriculture.

“He has himself tried hard to bring the same agriculture reforms earlier,” Tomar said.

He added, “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.

Tomar presented some facts with a point-wise rebuttal of what Pawar had suggested. He said that under new ecosystem, mandis are not affected and 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.

“New Laws facilitate promotion of additional choice channel for farmers with a 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,” Tomar wrote.

After his detailed rebuttal, Tomar said, “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.”