Shimla, Dec. 25 -- Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Rohit Thakur on Thursday strongly criticised the union Government's decision to reduce import duty on apples from New Zealand under the recently signed Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Thakur called it a "direct betrayal" of apple orchardists and a severe blow to the state's Rs 5,000-crore apple economy.
In an official statement issued from Shimla, Thakur said apple cultivation forms the backbone of Himachal Pradesh's hill economy and sustains lakhs of families.
Any policy that weakens domestic growers, he said, amounts to an attack on rural livelihoods. Reacting to the reduction of apple import duty from 50 percent to 25 percent, the minister said repeated assurances given to growers by ...