FTA may affect state's farm economy: Kerala CM to Centre

Kerala government has conveyed to Centre its concern over the proposed Free Trade Agreement to be signed by India with ASEAN countries which was likely to have an adverse impact on the state's agricultural economy, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said today.

Achuthanandan, who led a ministerial delegation that met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on August 3 in Delhi to air the state's views on the matter, said the Centre had said it would protect the state's interests while signing the pact.

The state was yet to get a copy of the proposed pact as assured by the Prime Minister during the meeting, he said.

 

The Centre neglected its constitutional duty to take states into confidence before deciding to go ahead with the signing of the pact, he alleged.