NITI Ayog's role: CIFA's national agricultural agenda
March 5, 2019
NITI Ayog’s role
This refers to Surinder Sud’s piece “Beyond loan waivers & doles" (Business Standard, Farm View, March 5). The issues raised and the points made look rational and
suggestions worth pursuing. Obviously, the ‘agricultural agenda’ is presented
at this point of time to garner support from as many political parties as
possible which may be participating in the 2019 General Elections.
A mention has been made about the need for bringing agriculture and
irrigation in the concurrent list of the Constitution to let the Union
government to play a more meaningful role in their development. There would be
no two views on the desirability of revisiting the subjects in the central,
state and concurrent lists of the Constitution as political formations have
undergone a change from what they were during the last century.
In the present scenario, pending large scale changes in statutes, NITI
Ayog should be in a position to play a proactive role in guiding Centre, and
states where necessary, in formulation of policies affecting prices, wages and
income across sectors. After NITI Ayog took over most of the roles of the
erstwhile Planning Commission, the impression one got was that the new
dispensation was listening to all stakeholders before advising government on
policy issues. From the article, it is not clear whether the Consortium of Indian Farmers Association (CIFA) did approach NITI
Ayog to brief about its concerns about farm sector policy.
M G Warrier, Mumbai
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