Opposition raising unreasonable apprehensions on farm laws, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Under attack from the Opposition parties on new farm laws, the Union government on Tuesday sought to turn the tables on the Congress by accusing the erstwhile governments led by the party of not providing Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops other than paddy and wheat.

Without naming Congress, which headed the UPA-I and II regimes from 2004 to 2014, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman questioned why the party that did not care to extend MSP to other crops was now raising “unreasonable” apprehensions on the farm laws.

Addressing a press conference here to highlight the benefits of the farm laws, Nirmala said the government introduced the Bills in the Parliament after discussions with farmers' organisations across the country and rejected suggestions that they were rushed through.

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She also said the Congress, though she did not name the party, had promised to bring reforms in the agriculture sector in its manifesto, but is opposing them when the NDA government got the Bills passed in the Parliament. To a question, the finance minister said the MSP for various crops was here to stay and farmers need not worry on that count.

“I have to mention a few things. For years, under certain governments, the focus of granting MSP was only for paddy and wheat though there were other 20-23 items that were covered under the regime. Only after Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, the scenario changed,” she said.

She added that it was the NDA government that began shifting the focus of MSP on other crops such as coarse grains, oilseeds and spices to reduce dependence on imports.

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“MSP was there and will continue to be there. But because of the focus on increasing the MSP of only paddy and wheat annually, it brought a distortion in the agriculture sector as many farmers shifted from other crops to the cultivation of paddy and wheat,” she said.

Nirmala did not give a direct answer to the questions on demands from states like Tamil Nadu for tweaking of rules in the options given by the Centre with regard to GST compensation. “We discussed the issues at the GST Council meeting on Monday for seven hours and we will meet again on October 12. We will discuss there,” she said.