HYDERABAD: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy dared the BJP’s national leaders attending the party’s national executive meetings on July 2 and 3 to declare that they would make amendments to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and ensure its linkage with agriculture — as per their 2019 election manifesto.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, he also demanded that the BJP give constitutional protection for Minimum Support Price (MSP) and declare that procurement will be done as per the legislation. Instead of citing “excuses” that the implementation of MS Swaminathan Commission’s report isn’t feasible, Niranjan dared the BJP to determine the MSP based on the (C2+50) principle recommended by the Commission. He also demanded that the BJP implement Rythu Bandhu across the country and declare that the power meters would not be installed on agricultural pump sets. Niranjan asked BJP leaders to get outstanding funds amounting to Rs 7,183.71 crore payable by the Centre to Telangana within three-four days.