APMC Act, Mandi not relevant in Kerala: Agriculture Minister responds to PM Modi's question

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is blaming the Left parties in Kerala for his moral defeat before the historic struggle of farmers, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar has said.
Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar
Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is blaming the Left parties in Kerala for his moral defeat before the historic struggle of farmers, Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar has said.

V S Sunil Kumar
V S Sunil Kumar

“The Prime Minister has alleged the Left parties are playing politics in Punjab. He said they are doing event management and asked why the farmers in Bengal are not protesting. His allegation that those who conduct agitation for farmers are playing politics prove that he has become an agent of monopolies,” Sunil Kumar said.

Replying to PM’s question as to why the Left Government in Kerala did not implement the APMC and Mandi, he said: “In 2003, when the APMC Act was implemented, each state was given the right to decide whether they should implement the Act. For, agriculture is a subject in the concurrent list.

Apart from Kerala, Manipur, Bihar, Jammu Kashmir and several other states also did not implement the Act. Those states which framed the law considered the specialities peculiar to them,” he said. “But now, the Central Government has made unilateral legislation on a state subject and has imposed it upon states.”

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