Former Union minister and HP Congress in-charge Rajeev Shukla on Thursday charged that the farm legislations brought by the Narendra Modi government will destroy the economy of the farming community and that changes are needed in them to protect farmers’ interests.
Talking to media during his first visit to the state, Shukla said the new bills will pave the way for big companies buying farm produce at throwaway prices and farmers will be forced to sell their products at low prices.
“The Union government should have made provision in the farm bills that the agricultural products wouldn’t be bought at lower prices than the fixed Minimum Support Price (MSP).
Further, the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees should not be abolished to ensure that farmers don’t suffer losses,” he said.
Shukla further stated that the legislations passed by the Central government didn’t mention these points and when the opposition parties asked to make these changes, the government said that they were making provisions.
But they hadn’t made any announcement to make these changes a part of the new legislations, he added.
“The changes suggested by the Congress party should be made part of the new bills as the government officials’ only follow what is written in law,” he said.
Former Union minister also lashed out at the Centre government for poor management to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the country and said the government had failed to tackle the viral disease efficiently.
He also raised the issue of suicide of a woman in a hospital in Shimla and said the state government didn’t have proper mechanism to tackle Corona patients. “The development in Himachal has taken a backseat in the present BJP government and all sections of the society be it traders, youth or women, are suffering due to inefficient governance in the state. At present, there are over 14 lakh unemployed persons in the state which shows the lack of policies for ensuring employment opportunities for the people of the state,” he added.
He further stated that former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh led government had worked for all round development of the state and many projects were launched for the welfare of the people of the state. “We need to work for ensuring that Congress returns to power in the state in 2022 assembly elections so that development could take centre-stage in the state,” he added.
He allayed the talks of infighting within the HP Congress and called on the party workers to work unitedly and as one family to ensure the party’s win in the state in upcoming assembly polls.