Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said irrespective of the Centre’s farm laws, the State government will not take any decision to harm farmers’ interests.
“The Centre can bring in laws as it may like. But we will ensure that the interests of the State farmers are not harmed,” said Mr Thackeray. He was speaking on the occasion of ‘Krishi Din’ celebrated by the Agriculture Department on the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister Vasantrao Naik.
Mr. Thackeray said the farmers are the pride of Maharashtra and the State government is working on preserving that pride. “We understand the uncertainty in agriculture. There are natural calamities that strike and then there are issues of price. We as a government stand firmly with farmers.”
Three days ago, a delegation of farmer leaders led by former Lok Sabha MP Raju Shetti, Medha Patkar and Subhash Lomte had met Mr. Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar demanding to pass a resolution opposing the three farm laws in the monsoon session of the state legislature.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Pawar at a different programme said agriculture is the backbone of the economy. “If the agricultural growth and progress is evident, the situation of economy will automatically improve. Demand from consumers boosts an economy. With more than half of the population being part of agriculture in India, ensuring that their situation is improved would eventually boost demand and subsequently lead to improvement of economy,” he said, while virtually inaugurating the D Y Patil Agriculture and Technical University at Talsande in Kolhapur district.