INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Former Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for comparing Congress
manifesto promise of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (AMPC) Act with the new agriculture reform bills
Chidambaram was Chairman of Congress's manifesto committee during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.Chidambaram took a swipe at the BJP, saying
"little reading" is more dangerous than "little knowledge"
"A little knowledge is dangerous; little reading is even more dangerous," P Chidambaram said.The senior Congress leader said the BJP, which
has had been a party "dominated by traders and merchants", is caught in the web of its own creation."The BJP is caught in a web of its own
For decades, it was - and it still is - a party dominated by traders and merchants
An economy that was afflicted by shortages of goods and services was exploited by them
That situation began to change with the Green Revolution (pioneered by Indira Gandhi) and liberalisation (ushered in by P V Narasimha Rao
and Dr Manmohan Singh)" Chidambaram said.The Congress leader said, "Today, our farmers produce huge surpluses in many agricultural produce -
On the strength of our farmers, successive Congress governments built, brick by brick, a food security system, that culminated in the
National Food Security Act, 2013
The three pillars of our food security system are MSP, Public Procurement and PDS.""The Congress Manifesto 2019 was based on the
foundational principles outlined above
The prime minister and the BJP spokespersons have deliberately and maliciously distorted the Congress Manifesto
We promised (1) To promote Farmers Producer Companies/Organisations to enable farmers to access inputs, technology and markets; (2) To
establish farmers' markets with adequate infrastructure and support in large villages and small towns to enable the farmer to bring his/her
produce and freely market the same," he said.Chidambaram further said that the Congress's proposals would have given multiple accessible
markets and choice to the farmers."Farmers need multiple accessible markets and choice
The Congress's proposals would have given them that
Once that is accomplished, the Congress Manifesto promise on repealing the APMC Act and making trade in agricultural produce free would be a
natural sequel in course of time."Chidambaram said while the Congress's promise was "clear", the Modi government has "surrendered to the
corporates and traders".Listing out the new farm bills, Chidambaram said, "The two Farm Bills do not contain a clause that the price that
the farmer will get from the private purchaser shall not be less than the MSP
Why is such a clause absent?"The Bills undermine the only regulated market available to the farmer today, without creating thousands of
alternative markets that will be accessible to the farmer
The Bills assume perversely that the farmer and the private purchaser have equal bargaining power
The small farmer will be at the mercy of the private purchaser," Chidambaram said.He further added: "If a dispute arises between the farmer
and the private purchaser, the machinery under the Bills is so bureaucratic and convoluted that no farmer will have the strength or the
resources to fight the purchaser
The small and medium farmer will be ruined
The Bills undermine the three pillars of our food security system."Chidambaram also urged all the Opposition parties to join hands to oppose
the new agriculture farm bills."The Congress and other Opposition parties must join hands to oppose the Bills in every forum and ensure that
they do not become law in the present form
Every party has to take a stand - is it with the farmers or is it with the BJP threatening the livelihood of farmers?"
