Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to refer the three agriculture reform Bills to the Parliamentary select committee and consult States before proceeding further with their implementation.
Addressing a press conference, the Chief Minister said that under the guise of agriculture reforms, the Centre was trying to bring corporate entities into the trading of farm products.
The minimum support price (MSP) was implemented by the Congress to protect the interest of farmers. With the new reforms, corporates would stock up, fix the price and sell the agricultural products, he said.
An ally of the National Democratic Alliance quit the Central government, opposing the Bills, he said, adding that the Prime Minister should at least now refer the Bills to the Parliamentary select committee and consult States before their implementation.
Reiterating his demand that the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) be scrapped, the Chief Minister said the BJP should own the moral responsibility for the sufferings of the students of Puducherry and Tamil Nadu due to the conduct of NEET. The Union Territory’s admission process, through the Centralised Admission Committee, for medical and engineering seats ensured social justice, and now, with the introduction of NEET, poor students were not able to obtain seats, he said.
The CM also announced the setting up of a committee, comprising medical experts, to bring down the number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the U.T.
