India
Pawar said that indebtedness was the main reason behind farmer suicides and providing minimum support price for farm produce was the most needed measure
Updated : Jun 26, 2017, 08:10 AM IST
NCP President and former Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar said on Sunday that NCP isn’t satisfied with the loan waiver announced by the state government, but has decided to cooperate with them for taking the first step.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, Pawar said that indebtedness was the main reason behind farmer suicides and providing minimum support price for farm produce was the most needed measure. He pointed out that the BJP, in its 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto had promised to implement the Swaminathan Committee Report recommendation of providing farmers with their input cost along with 50 per cent profit made on the same.
Stating that Tata Institute of Social Science and Pune’s Gokhale Institute have submitted a report suggesting that indebtedness is the main reason behind farmer suicides, Pawar said that the BJP hasn’t made any appointment to the Agricultural Pricing Commission since it came to power. He demanded to make these appointments and have persons of repute in the field of agriculture on it.
When asked if the state can afford the loan waiver, Pawar said that it wouldn’t have any adverse effect on state’s taxpayers. He said that Maharashtra is financially more stable than Uttar Pradesh and can bear the burden with ease.