Nitin Gadkari demands scrapping of Agriculture Price Commission

BJP president Nitin Gadkari today demanded reconstitution of the Central Agriculture Commission for Prices (CACP) and also its Maharashtra unit for failure to protect interest of farmers.

"The Central Commission was not protecting the interest of farmers in the country and is outdated. Therefore it should be scrapped and a new commission should be constituted to operate on ground realities," Gadkari, who was here to attend the ongoing State Legislature session, told reporters.

He said the commission should be reconstituted with new terms and references as the existing one was acting far from realities.

Citing example of the government employees where Dearness Allowances (DA) are fixed as per the prevailing GDP, the senior leader proposed that same should be applied to farmers.

If the prices of diesel are fluctuating, they (farmers) should be accordingly provided subsidies. The cost of production of any farm material is never taken into consideration therefore there is a huge gap between it and selling prices, which is alway a deficit, Gadkari added.

Asking for a ban on the forward trading and future trading for being speculative and manipulative in nature, Gadkari said the farmers were not benefitted by the same.