KCR tells MPs to oppose farm bills

TRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has asked his party MPs to vote against the farm bills in the Rajya Sabha, saying they would cause great injustice to farmers.

Talking with TRS Parliamentary Party leader Dr. K Keshava Rao over phone on Saturday, the chief minister pointed out that the Bill will cause severe harm to the farming community and was only meant to benefit the corporates.

Emphasising the need to oppose the Bills, KCR explained “for the public consumption, it was stated in the Bills that farmers could sell their produce anywhere in the country. But in reality, farmers seldom go to faraway places and it was traders and corporate companies who travel anywhere in the country to buy or sell their goods.

“The Bill will throw open flood gates for the Corporate companies and private traders to expand their operations across the country."

He questioned “how is it possible for farmers who produce in small quantities, hire lorries to transport their yield to faraway places at a high expense in their attempt to earn profits?”

Terming that these Bills are nothing but sugar-coated pills, the Chief Minister asked the MPs that these Bills should be opposed at all costs. Finding fault with the Centre’s decision to reduce the import tax from 50 per cent to 15 per cent allowing import of one crore tonnes of maize from abroad, KCR questioned the Union of India what will happen to our farmers and their produce if the Centre opens doors for imports.

Stating that the Centre had already procured 70-75 lakh tonnes of maize, he pointed out “Whom does the Centre want to benefit at a time when the nation is facing an economic slowdown? We have plenty of maize produced in the country.

He instructed the MPs to oppose and vote against the Bills in Rajya Sabha since they will cause huge losses to the agriculture sector and are against the interests of farmers in the country.