Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday urged the Union government to set up a permanent commission for the farming sector to continuously look at and work on farmers’ grievances.
“The commission should produce a biannual socio-economic audit of the farm sector for Parliament to discuss,” he said in his first speech after taking oath as a Rajya Sabha member. “It is unfortunate that the very first issue I have to take up has to do with farmers and the uncertainty they face. The farmers perceive that the Bills are a precursor to phasing out grain procurement at Minimum Support Price, which would throw them under the mercy of private players and big corporations.”
He pointed out that the ordinances were presented as progressive reforms in the agriculture sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and had naturally sown the seeds of doubt as they were issued hurriedly. “Now there is a widening gap between the government and the farmers,” he said.
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The former Prime Minister was speaking on the three ordinances issued in June and the same Bills before Parliament to be passed.
Mr. Gowda, who has always expressed a desire to win electoral politics, is entering his second term in the Rajya Sabha. His last stint was in 1996 when he became Prime Minister. Mr. Gowda took oath in Kannada and in the name of god.
The JD(S) nominated him to the Upper House after the party’s member Kupendra Reddy’s term came to an end in July. While the JD (S) did not have the numbers to send a candidate on its own to the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Gowda was among the four candidates to be elected from Karnataka in July after the Congress decided to support his candidature, resulting in a unanimous election.
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