New Delhi, Sep 19 (UNI) The Congress continued its attack on the farm sector Bill passed by the Lok Sabha on Thursday with senior party leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram saying that the Bills undermine three pillars of India’s food security- MSP, Public Procurement and PDS.

In a statement issued here, Mr Chidambaram accused the Modi government of having surrendered to the corporates and traders.

'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. They do not. The small farmer will be at the mercy of the private purchaser. 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 thus undermine the three pillars of our food security system, MSP, Public Procurement and PDS, Chidambaram said.


Charging the Prime Minister and the BJP spokespersons with distorting the Congress Manifesto, Chidambaram said, 'Today, our farmers produce huge surpluses in many agricultural produce — notably wheat and rice. 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 these foundational principles . The Prime Minister and the BJP spokespersons have deliberately and maliciously distorted the Congress Manifesto. We promised to promote Farmers Producer Companies and Organisations to enable farmers to access inputs, technology and markets: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. Farmers need multiple accessible markets and choice.
'The Congress’ 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. While our promise is clear, the Modi government has surrendered to the corporates and traders.'


Mr Chidambaram said that 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.

'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?,' the Congress leader said.

The farm sector billls, which have evoked protests from farmers in Haryana and Punjab, have been passed in the Lok Sabha. They are expected to come up in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.


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