Farmers call hike in MSPS ‘inadequate, insignificant’
NEWDELHI: Farmer organisations in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two states that witnessed violent protests by farmers demanding better prices, have criticised the Modi government’s minimum support prices (MSPS) as insignificant and inadequate, as have leaders in a handful of other states.
The Union cabinet had on Wednesday announced higher minimum support prices (MSPS) for 14 crops, setting each of these at a minimum of 1.5 times the cost of cultivation. The MSP for paddy, the main kharif crop, has been increased by ~200 per quintal.
Most of the farmers said the MSPS should have been calculated on the so-called C2 costs, a comprehensive measure that includes imputed rent on owned land and interests on capital, as recommended by the Swaminathan Committee.
Shiv Kumar Sharma, president of the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh, alleged the government had defrauded farmers. Sharma, one of the leaders of the agitation in Mandsaur in June 2017 in which five farmers were killed in police firing, said the government earned more than ~1.5 lakh crore from farmers through crop insurance scheme, taxes on diesel and GST on agriculture equipment but would return only about ~15,000 crore to farmers through the MSP hikes.
“The government has cheated the farmers. It has hiked the MSP for paddy by ~200 only. The MSP hike for certain other crops is significant but the output of such crops produced is too insignificant to provide any benefit to the farmers and its purchase is mainly in the hands of the traders,” Sharma said.
Anil Yadav, the state president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), said the hikes in MSP would hardly bring about any change in the life of farmers as “traders will continue to buy the crops much below the MSP and sell it at much higher price”.
The Rss-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) welcomed the announcement. Shivakant Dixit, general secretary of BKS, said: “We thank the government but it should make better arrangements for procurement of crops to ensure that there is no purchase of crops below the MSP.”
GS Kaushal, former director of agriculture, Madhya Pradesh, said until the input cost of agriculture is reduced and there is an effective law to control traders, farmers are not going to get any benefit with such a hike in MSP. “There is no meaning of the MSP as traders buy the crop at mandis much below the MSP. They will continue to do so with impunity.”
Rajasthan-based Kisan Mahapanchayat national president Rampal Jat said the announcement of MSP by adding 50% profit on cost of cultivation is halftruth, as in the cost of cultivation, rent of owned land of farmer and interest on working capital have not been included.
Balbir Singh Rajewal, president of a faction of BKU in Punjab, dubbed the increase as a “mirage”, which he said was “meaningless”. “The figure of ~200 looks huge but farmers are not going to get any benefit,” said Rajewal.
“Cost of labour has gone up by ~1,200 to 1,500 per acre, there’s GST of 18% on machinery and farm implements and 12% on fertilisers, and diesel prices have also gone up, a fact known to everyone. All this would add to the input cost that is much more than the hike in MSP,” he added.
The chief of another faction of BKU, BS Mann, rejecting the hikes, saying the Modi govern- ment had “diluted” the Swaminathan Committee recommendations because MSP doesn’t include comprehensive input costs.
The MSP hikes were meaningless for Uttarakhand because 80% of the population grows vegetables and fruits, said J Kumar, dean of the College of Agriculture at GB Pant University.
In Gujarat, farmers demanded better procurement. Sagar Rabari, president of Gujarat Khedut Sangharsh Samiti, said: “The Prime Minister, while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls, had promised MSP as per C2 formula by Swaminathan Committee report. But the prices declared are as per A2+FL, which do not include imp- uted value of rental on owned land rentals and interest on capital.”
Farmers in Tamil Nadu expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s announcement to increase the minimum support price for paddy ~Rs 200 per quintal. PR Pandiyan, coordinator, Tamil Nadu All Farmers Organising Committee (TNAFO), termed the MSP revision as an election stunt of the BJP to draw the farmers’ vote bank ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“The PM said that his government would double the income of farmers by 2022. The recent decision will not help to double the income. We want the Centre to implement M S Swaminathan committee’s proposal,” he said.