Dont Be On Wrong Side Of History: 20 Ex-Indian IFS Officers Back Farm Laws In Open Letter To WTO
The Logical Indian Crew

'Don't Be On Wrong Side Of History': 20 Ex-Indian IFS Officers Back Farm Laws In Open Letter To WTO

The group of officers criticised the political groups and legislators from the USA, UK, the European Union and others who have blended their support to the ongoing farmer's agitation.

  • Whatsapp
  • Telegram
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • koo
  • Whatsapp
  • Telegram
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • koo
  • Whatsapp
  • Telegram
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • koo

A group of 20 former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers have jointly written an open letter to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) backing the three farms laws passed by the Indian Parliament.

The group of officers criticised the political groups and legislators from the USA, UK, the European Union and others who have blended their support to the ongoing Indian farmer's agitation, The Indian Express reported.

"Sustainable agriculture demands that farmers adopt the latest technology to diversify their production and the farm laws passed by the Indian Government is a step in this direction," the former IFS officers said while backing the provision of minimum support price (MSP) which has come under the radar by the developed countries and hailed as an unfair practice.

"On the one hand, they want countries like India to liberalise their agriculture markets, allow the market forces to determine prices and limit subsidies. On the other hand, political groups and legislators from some of these countries express support for the farmers' protests near Delhi and criticise the government for enacting farm laws that seek to empower farmers and bring in greater market efficiency", the letter read.

It further added that it was the central government's entitlement to strike a balance between market forces and food security/ farmers' welfare and the recent decisions have been taken in that direction.

The signatories cautioned the developed countries by saying that such countries have an opportunity to "not to be on the wrong side of history" by not supporting the farmers' protest.'

"India will gradually and incrementally allow the market to decide prices of agricultural produce, not because of the WTO or because the developed countries are saying so but because it is in the fundamental interest of the Indian farmers and will enable the latter to double their income," they said.

The list of signatories includes Ajay Swarup, Ajit Kumar, Anil K Trigunayat, Anil Wadhwa, Ashok Kumar, Bhaswati Mukherjee, Deepa Wadhwa, J S Sapra, Laxmi Puri, Mohan Kumar, O P Gupta, Preeti Saran, Rajeev Bhatia, Satish Chand Mehta, Shyamla B Cowshik, Veena Sikhri, Vidya Sagar Verma, Virender Gupta, Vishnu Prakash and Yogesh Gupta.

The statement has come at a time when several international personalities, including celebrities, activists are supporting the farmers' agitation near Delhi borders against the three contentious farm laws.

Also Read: Farmer Unions' Chakka Jam: 50,000 Personnel, Water Cannons Deployed, UN Calls For 'Maximum Restraint'

Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Yamini
,
Editor : Palak Agrawal
,
Creatives : Rajath

Must Reads