New Delhi, March 05: With UPA partners Trinamool Congress and DMK having come out openly against the fuel price hike, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday came to the defence of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, suggesting that the allies were party to the decision.
“He (the Finance Minister) had to take such a step (hike customs and excise duty on petroleum products) to raise the resources. We (allies) are all party to it,” Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Krishi Mela, organised by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, here on Thursday.
Under fire from opposition parties for rising food prices in the country, the Agriculture Minister said it was a tough job for him to get remunerative price for farmers while keeping consumers happy over the prices. “The government has two main duties.
One is to give better price to farmers and the other is to supply foodgrains at reasonable rates to the poor. It is very difficult to strike a balance, as there is a section in the population which starts complaining that prices have risen,” he said, addressing the farmers.
Lauding the farmers for braving the drought, Pawar sought to generate support for the government’s nutrient-based subsidy regime, decontrolling fertiliser sector from government pricing while hiking the prices for urea by asking them to engage in balanced use of fertilisers based on the soil need.
He tried to placate the farmers by saying the government would be now extending the farm credit at a rate of 5 per cent for the farmers making regular repayment.
Later, speaking to the reporters, Pawar said any proposal to export foodgrains would be taken by the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
—-Agencies