Taking a jibe at Prakash Javadekar, Shashi Tharoor asked him if he is aware of farmers' demands and told him to 'stop broadcasting misinformation'.
Minister of Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Saturday shared a 2010 tweet by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor in which he had favoured giving way to private players in providing storage facilities for grains. He wrote, “Another exposition of Congress' hypocrisy on #FarmLaws.”
Tharoor in his old tweet on grain storage facilities noted that in India more wheat is wasted due to poor storage facilities and distribution losses. And the amount of loss surpasses what Australia grows.
"Real need for pvt sector 2move into grain storage," Tharoor had written, as seen in the screenshot shared by Javadekar.
Reacting to Javadekar’s tweet, Tharoor said that his old tweet does not mention or imply the removal of Minimum Support Price (MSP) or an amendment to The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) that would allow hoarding. He also took a jibe at Javadekar asking him if he is unaware of the farmers’ demands and told him to “stop broadcasting misinformation”.
"Prakash-bhai, Does my tweet mention or imply anything about removing MSP or amending ECA to allow hoarding? Or aren't you aware of farmers’ demands? Surely it’d be better for a Minister of Information & Broadcasting to stop Broadcasting Misinformation this way," he wrote.
Farmers, mainly from Punjab Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting against the Centre’s new farm laws since November last year. The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations.
However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.