Telangana CM Chandrashekar Rao asks TRS MPs to reject 'anti-farmer' bills in Rajya Sabha

Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao has expressed his opposition to the farmers’ Bills brought in by the Narendra Modi government, asking his MPs to vote against the legislation in the Rajya Sabha.

The Farmer Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill 2020, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2020 were passed by the Lok Sabha and are slated for introduction in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.

The Bills have become controversial with one alliance minister - Harsimrat Badal of the Shiromani Akali Dal - resigning from the NDA government opposing their provisions.

The BJP, which lacks a majority in the upper house, was banking on the support of the TRS, YSRCP and other parties to get the Bills passed. The TRS has seven MPs in the Rajya Sabha, while Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSRCP has six.

On Saturday, Rao said the Bills would benefit the corporate sector while adversely impacting farmers.

“For public consumption, the Bills state that farmers could sell their produce anywhere in the country. But is it possible for farmers to take their small produce to long distances areas bearing the heavy transport charges and sell at a good price? Effectively, these Bills would enable traders to go anywhere in the country to buy produce. The Bills would thus help the corporate lobby spread all over the country,” the chief minister said.

“These Bills are sugar-coated pills and should be opposed at all costs. They would do a great injustice to the country’s farm sector,” Rao asserted.

The Modi government is assuring that the Bills would enable farmers to get a good price for their produce.

Rao also found fault with “the Central government's decision to reduce the import duty on corn while intending to import one crore tonne of corn.”

“About 75 lakh tonnes of corn was purchased already. For whose benefit is this import duty reduced? When the country is going through an economic crisis, how is such a decision taken? What will happen to our own corn producers? the chief minister questioned.