Hyderabad June
18:
The Union
Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Ajit Singh, on Sunday said he was in favour of
FDI in retail, but cautioned that there had to be regulatory mechanism to
protect the interest of the farmers.
“FDI in retail
is important, as farmers will get better prices by selling their produce to big
stores. But unless there are laws to protect their interest, farmers will be
cheated,” he said at a function to mark the release of a Telugu book on farmers
authored by Mr Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao, former Agriculture Minister.
Displaying his
passion for farmers’ interest, the Minister took a dig at political leaders
across the political firmament, including those in power today, for ignoring
the plights of the farmers. “Farmers’ issue is no more an issue today that is
discussed seriously in parliament. Politicians are today not interested in this
issue. Very few people who run the government are even aware of the Swaminathan
Committee report,” he said.
He said
elections are not contested today, but fought. “If you buy votes, you do not
have to know about any issue (such as farmers’ issue) or discuss it. Today
debates (in Parliament) are more on interest rates, taxes and petrol prices,”
Mr Singh said. He hoped that the Election Commission would succeed in
eliminating the role of money in elections.
Pointing out
that members of farmers’ families were increasingly getting out of farming, he
said this was because the younger generation did not wish to stay back in their
villages to continue farming due to lack of adequate facilities there. “Farming
has prospered in India, but not farmers,” he said.
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