Pargat targets CM Mann on India-US trade pact

Chandigarh: Former education minister and Congress MLA Pargat Singh on Friday warned that the India-US trade agreement posed a grave threat to the nation, particularly its farmers.He questioned why the Aam Aadmi Party was resorting to mere posturing on the critical issue, while chief minister Bhagwant Mann remained mute. Pargat affirmed that the Congress party would not compromise on the farmers' welfare.Pargat alleged that CM Mann capitulated entirely before Union home minister Amit Shah on the trade pact, which imperiled farmers and agriculture at large. He noted that Mann, ever vociferous on minor provocations, and the AAP govt maintained silence on the pivotal agreement, raising profound questions about their priorities. This reticence only underscores that the AAP is toeing the BJP's line, he added.The Congress leader emphasised that Punjab's growers were already grappling with unremunerative prices and escalating input costs and influx of cheap foreign produce would spell ruin for smallholders.Pargat pointed out that most Indian farmers were small and marginal operators, ill-equipped to compete with multinational giants. Should low-priced US wheat, corn, soybeans, and dairy flood enter Indian markets, they would be obliterated. Farmer unions also fear that international pressures could erode minimum support prices (MSP) and agricultural subsidies, he said.The senior leader accused the govt of peddling selective benefits to mislead farmers, but insisted Punjab's agrarians would not be hoodwinked.MSID:: 128311979 413 |