NAGPUR: Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh had to face farmers’ protest during his visit to Nagpur on Sunday to inaugurate a refurbished milk processing unit of Mother Dairy. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari were also present.
A group of farmers shouted slogans during Mr. Singh’s speech at Deshpande Hall. One farmer asked him to stop his speech and demanded that the 7/12 receipts of Maharashtra farmers should be cleared and a proper price should be set for milk. The farmers received support and applause from the audience.
The Minister, however, continued his speech and blamed the previous governments for the farming crisis. “The Swaminathan Commission had suggested that the farmers’ produce should be given one-and-a-half times’ rate, but the then governments turned a blind eye to it. During the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had committed that our government would double farmers’ incomes. Now, there has been an increase in farmers’ income and reduction in the input cost,” he claimed.
Mr. Fadnavis, too, accused the former State governments of “ruining the government-run dairy business to benefit their own private dairy business”.
