NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar reiterated on Sunday that the new farm laws will not affect the current MSP system and APMC’s mandis. Countering the views of former Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Tomar said that mandis will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure under the new ecosystem. His response came a day after Pawar raised concern over the new farm laws saying these legislations will adversely affect the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and weaken the mandi system. In a series of tweets, Tomar said: “Under the new ecosystem, mandis are not affected. Instead, they will be more competitive and cost effective in terms of services and infrastructure; and both the systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest of farmers.”
“As he (Pawar) is such a veteran leader, I would like to believe that he was genuinely misinformed of the facts. Now that he has the right facts, I hope he will also change his stand and also explain the benefits to our farmers.” The minister claimed that new laws provide choices for farmers to sell their produce to anyone, anywhere with hassle free movement in and outside the state to realise competitive and better net price for their produce. He said, “This doesn’t affect the current MSP system.” “Since he speaks with some experience and expertise on the issue, it was dismaying to see his tweets employ a mixture of ignorance and misinformation on the agriculture reforms,” Tomar added. The Centre enacted Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 last year in a move to bring reform in Agriculture and allied sectors which have been opposed by some groups of farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh.