Farmers Movement Archive

Former CM Devendra Fadnavis slams Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government over opposing farm laws

Devendra Fadnavis, leader of opposition in the Assembly, on Tuesday slammed the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government over opposing the Centre’s contentious farm laws. He said most provisions in the three legislations are already implemented in Maharashtra, but the ruling parties — Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress — are opposing the laws of the Centre for “politics”. Fadnavis said during the United Progress Alliance (UPA) rule at the Centre, the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had approved a committee’s report that recommended encouraging participation of private players in the farm sector “The MVA government is doing politics on farm legislations brought by the Centre, as Maharashtra was the first state to implement the reforms in the agriculture marketing sector; allowed contractual farming and private APMCs. The same provisions are part of the farm laws, but the state government is opposing them,” Fadnavis said. Referring to Pawar, who has demanded the withdrawal of the laws, Fadnavis said in the former union minister in his autobiography has insisted that farmers should be allowed to sell their produce wherever they want to. “As a farmer from Baramati when you force me to sell my produce to Mumbai-based APMC then you are forcing me to spend an additional 17% to commission agents. This compulsion needs to be removed and I should be allowed to sell the produce anywhere in the state,” Fadnavis said, quoting the autobiography.The former chief minister said Singh and Pawar had formed a committee headed by the then state minister Harshwardhan Patil on March 2, 2010, to bring in the reforms. The committee, comprising ministers from other states, then submitted its report, which was also approved by the Centre.“Under the present system, the marketable surplus of one area moves out to the consumption centres through the network of middlemen and traders and institutional agencies… The regulatory provision needs to undergo change by providing a free hand to the private sector to its own operator, managing the market’s alternate marketing system with backward and forward linkages. The government may at best formulate rules of the game for the market. The role of government should be of a facilitator only,” Fadnavis said, quoting the committee’s report.The BJP leader also hit out at the MVA government over their decision to shift the Metro car shed from Aarey Colony to Kanjurmarg, saying it will delay the project by more than four years and will cost the state an additional expenditure of ₹5,000 crore. Objecting to the state’s decision of tweaking the original plan, Fadnavis said the decision was made even after an expenditure of ₹100 crore. He said Durga Shanker Mishra, Union secretary for ministry of housing and urban affairs, too, has written a letter to the state government expressing his concern over the decision. The opposition leader also said the Maratha community is dismayed over the stay on their quota. “The community is reeling under uncertainty and protesting across the state. Police are detaining their leaders, resisting them from protesting and this is happening for the first time. On the other hand, there is confusion among OBCs as they fear that their reservation will be affected. Government needs to clarify its stand on this,” he said.Fadnavis further said the government has been boasting about effective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, but 35%-40% of the deaths in the country have been reported in the state. The procurement of medicines and equipment and building of Covid centres is “rattled in corruption”. “Orders were issued without tendering, a few select have benefited out of them,” he alleged.

Hindustan Times

15-12-2020

Mumbai