Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday reacted over the opposition parties opposing the new farm laws. The minister also gave his reaction on the controversy over Sharad Pawar's letters of 2010 & 2011 to Sheila Dixit & SS Chouhan.
As the Agriculture Minister of India Sharad Pawar had written to Chief Ministers strongly advocating for greater participation of private sector in agriculture sector and need for making suitable regulatory and policy changes for that, said the union minister.
Pawar in the 2010 letter to the then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that the agriculture sector needs well-functioning markets to drive growth, employment and economic prosperity in rural area 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," his letter said, calling for amending the state APMC Act.
In a letter to the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Pawar had stated need for investments in post-harvest and marketing infrastructure from the farm gate to the consumer and said "private sector needs to play an important role in this regard".
A nationwide shutdown has been called by the protesting farmers on December 8.
Farmers are protesting against the 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.
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