Pawar invites oppn to discuss two agri bills

Sticking to the new-found mantra of broad-based consultation before pushing key bills, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has called a meeting with key opposition parties to discuss two contentious bills—the seeds bill and the pesticides bill.

Sticking to the new-found mantra of broad-based consultation before pushing key bills, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar has called a meeting with key opposition parties to discuss two contentious bills—the seeds bill and the pesticides bill.

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BJP, CPI(M), CPI, BSP, BJD, JD(U) and AIADMK have been invited for the meeting on December 19 reportedly to hammer out certain amendments to the bills, although it would be difficult to pass them during this winter session.

"We have serious objections to the two bills. We want regulatory mechanism on prices of seeds and pesticides to be brought in the bill. We also want adequate compensation in case of non-germination and more stringent action in case of spurious seeds," CPI(M)'s Basudeb Acharia told HT.

Both seeds bill and the pesticides bill are lying before parliament for a long time.