Farm Bills against spirit of Constitution: Telangana Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy

HYDERABAD: Farm Bills are against the spirit of the Constitution and that it will help only multi-national companies, said Agriculture Minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy.

In a statement on Monday, the Minister said that around 92 per cent of farmers in Telangana were either small or marginal and that the new Bills would only reduce their profits. 

He said that the Bills have no mention of minimum support price (MSP), and demanded to know who would resolve the disputes between farmers and corporate traders over the support price of the produce.  He said the corporates would take control of the market if the government loses control over the market prices. 

He also objected to the Centre’s decision to exempt potatoes, onions, oilseeds, and pulses from the Essential Commodities Act.

When the prices of these commodities go lower, the corporates will hoard the goods and sell them at high prices, the Minister said.

On the Electricity Amendment Bill, Niranjan Reddy said that there was no need for the Centre’s intervention in it. Fixing metres to 26 lakh agriculture pump sets would be a burden on the Discoms, he said.