Undeterred by the ongoing cold wave, farmers are protesting against the Central government's new farm laws. While the agitators have put their demains in front of the government, some politicians have taken this opportunity for political benefits. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who once advocated major reforms in agricultural laws, is also advising the Center on the new legislations. Pawar will meet President Ram Nath Kovind on December 9 on this matter.
It may be recalled that Pawar himself advocated huge changes in agricultural laws during his tenure as the Minister of Agriculture. In this regard, he also wrote letters in 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2011.
Wrote a letter to Sheila Dixit in 2010
On August 11, 2010, Sharad Pawar wrote a letter to the then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, stating the need for private sector participation in the agriculture sector. Not only this, Pawar was advocating changes in the APMC Act, which is the centre of the protests right now, in 2010 itself.
"As you are aware, the agriculture sector needs well-functioning markets to drive growth, employment and economic prosperity in rural areas of the country. This requires huge investments in marketing infrastructure including cold chain. And for this private sector participation is essential, for which an appropriate regulatory and policy environment needs to be in place," the letter, which is in possession of DNA, read.
Sharad Pawar, in the letter dated August 11, 2010, also reminded the then Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit about the earlier letters of May 25, 2005 and May 12, 2007 written in this regard.
Letter to MP CM Shivraj Singh
A similar letter was written by Sharad Pawar in November 2011 to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. In this letter, Pawar wrote that private sector participation can be important for agricultural reforms. He also advocated a change in the APMC Act with Shivraj. Then, apart from government mandis, he had stated the need for a private competitive market.
"In this context, there is a need to amend the present APMC Act on the lines of Model APMC Act 2003 in order to encourage private sector investment in marketing infrastructure and providing alternate competing marketing channels in the overall interest of the farmers, consumers and agricultural trade. I am sure that this will mean reduced intermediation costs and post-harvest losses as well as enhanced supply of the produce and greater farmer share in consumers' price," Pawar wrote in the letter.
Now Sharad Pawar's U-turn?
Now the attitude of the NCP supremo has changed. Sharad Pawar has told the Center on Sunday that it should take the farmers' protest seriously because if the stalemate continues, the movement will not be limited to Delhi alone, but people from across the country will stand with the farmers.
"But unfortunately this is not happening. I hope that the government will be wise and take cognizance of the issue to be resolved. If this impasse continues, the protest will not be limited to Delhi, but people from all over the country will stand with the protesting farmers," the former Union Agriculture Minister said.
