Under attack from both within the ruling UPA and the Opposition over his failure to check spiralling foodgrain prices, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no reservations about his handling of the issue.
"Our Prime Minister is an economist. I asked him whether he was suffering (on price rise issue) because of me, he said 'no' ", Pawar claimed addressing a function in Pune.
The minister who has been bearing the brunt of adverse fallout of skyrocketing prices, said the farmers were happy with him because of the remunerative prices offered for their produce. "I am being called Price Rise minister. But when I went to Punjab and UP recently, wheat growers expressed their happiness over increase in procurement prices," he said.
Pawar said it was important to increase the purchasing power of farmers by offering increased price for their produce and if this results in a corresponding hike in prices of essential commodities for the common man, it was the duty of the government to protect his interest by supplying subsidised foodgrains through Public Distribution System (PDS). If farmers get good returns for their produce, they would not migrate to urban areas, Pawar said. PTI
