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Minister cautions against politicising WTO rules

Union Minister of State for Finance Balasaheb Vikhe Patil on Friday flayed politicians for politicising WTO restrictions, observing that this was being done to ''meet their own selfish motives''.

In a hard-hitting speech at the inaugural function of the national seminar in Bangalore on 'Value Addition in Indian Agriculture', he said politicians, instead of allowing farmers to get remunerative price for their produce, were controlling the rates for their own benefit.

''Unless the government announces a ten-year tax holiday on agriculture, the sector will not be in a position to stand up to the challenges put forward by the removal of restrictions. Farmers must come out of the prevailing controlled mechanism,'' he added.

The minister lamented that the rural economy had virtually been shattered, and there was no money circulation to enable farmers to improve their living standards.

Referring to the co-operative movement, he said politicians were using it as a tool to meet their ends. ''Whenever a new party assumed power in the state, the entire co-operative set up was dismissed. Co-operatives must be handled only by the people and not politicians,'' he added.

Stressing the need for setting up a chain of producers co-operative with 20 million farmers, he said they could change the entire face of the nation.

UNI

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