Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday took strong exception to the allegation levelled by the chief minister M K Stalin that the Centre has ordered Tamil Nadu not to provide incentives for procurement of paddy from farmers.
Addressing an election rally in Thanjavur on April 11, Stalin claimed that the Centre has sent a letter to the Tamil Nadu government advising it to discontinue providing incentive for the paddy procured from farmers as it was leading to an increase in production.
In a social media post on Sunday, the finance minister said, “The communication sent not only to Tamil Nadu but to the chief secretaries of all States is merely an advice that the incentive policies provided by state governments should be integrated with National priorities.”
Sitharaman added that such a directive to Tamil Nadu not to provide incentives for paddy procurement is “a complete falsehood, politically motivated, and a deliberate distortion created with the aim of misleading the farmers.”
Holding that such an advice from the Union government is ”constructive and visionary aimed at encouraging crop diversification,” Sitharaman said, “Through this, a way will be paved for farmers to cultivate crops that have high domestic demand and obtain higher profits.”
She clarified that announcing incentives or bonuses over and above the minimum support price (MSP) is always subject to the individual authority of the respective state governments and added: “No one snatched away that authority.”
Instead of acting constructively with concern for national welfare, CM Stalin is engaged in a planned diversionary activities for narrow, selfish political gain, she said.“When the central government provides constructive cooperation, the DMK tries to exploit it.” she alleged.
Sitharaman asserted that whichever party was ruling a state, the National Democratic Alliance government would continue to work tirelessly for every farmer, in every state. “We will never back down to such deliberately manufactured issues,” she added.
