Empty promises
The timing of the Modi government’s announcement of a hike in the minimum support prices for kharif crops suggests that this may be another of its tall claims not backed by the financial allocations needed to deliver on them.
ACCORDING to a recent Cabinet decision of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, a large proportion of India’s farmers are to be offered the opportunity to sell their crops to the government at a minimum support price (MSP) that covers costs and provides for a margin of 50 per cent, starting with this kharif season. Together with measures like loan writeoffs offered by some Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled (BJP) States and an ostensibly much-improved crop insurance scheme in the form of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), this hike in MSPS is seen to have confirmed the pro-farmer tilt of the Narendra Modi government.
What needs noting is that with the exception of the PMFBY, the other measures were introduced towards the end of the tenure of the Modi government, and that too in response to strong farmers’ agitations in many States and the coming together of different farmers’ organisations on one platform with a clear charter of demands. Evidence that Indian agrioffered culture was languishing and that the farming community was under stress had been present ever since this government came to power. So, its belated decision to announce measures such as those mentioned was driven by protests from farmers and the fear that farmers may turn against the NDA in the impending State elections and the Parliamentary election due less than a year from now.
The political motivation implicit in the timing of the expressions of concern for the farming community suggests that the promises that the BJP is making may not be fulfilled. If it wins the 2019 elections again, it can postpone implementing the new measures in full for possibly another four years. If it does not, the task devolves on the parties forming the next government.
The possibility that the farmers will not get what they are being by this government is high because the Bjp-led NDA has built a reputation for making tall promises and not providing the financial allocations needed to deliver on them. The National Health Protection