All costs to be considered while fixing MSPs: Modi Get 300,000 likes on each FB page, BJP MPs told

DALIT OUTREACH Calling it Ambedkar’s India, Modi said the ‘New India’ belonged to the poor and the backward

Cost of labour of the farmer or any other person of his family who contributes... will also be added to production cost NARENDRA MODI,

Prime Minister

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday a planned increase in guaranteed price for farm goods will be based on the comprehensive cost of production including land rentals and unpaid-for labour by family members of a farmer.

The government, which sets a minimum support price (MSP) for nearly two dozen farm commodities, said in its budget last month that MSP will be set at least one and a half times the cost of production.

The announcement marks a major shift in the government’s approach after it had kept increases in the average minimum support price to low single digits over the past three years.

New Delhi did not spell out whether the production cost would include just input costs, or all other expenses incurred.

Farmers’ organisations have long demanded that the government takes into consideration the comprehensive cost of production while deciding the MSP for a crop.

In his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat, PM Modi, who faces general elections by May next year, said the budget had taken a “big decision” to ensure that farmers get a fair price for their produce.

“If I may elaborate on this, MSP will include labour cost of other workers employed, expenses incurred on own animals and cost of animals and machinery taken on rent, cost of seeds, cost of each type of fertilizer used, irrigation cost, land revenue paid to the state government, interest paid on working capital, ground rent in case of leased land...,” Modi said.

“...and not only this but also the cost of labour of the farmer himself or any other person of his family who contributes his or her labour in agricultural work will also be added to the cost of production,” he added.

Analysts have warned that the increase in minimum support

MUMBAI:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked each Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP to get at least 300,000 likes on their Facebook page, and offered to hold a live video call with the constituents of parliamentarians who achieve the target, according to three leaders from the party.

The offer was made on Friday in a dinner meeting that Modi and party president Amit Shah had with BJP MPs at the new party headquarters in Delhi.

A BJP MP who attended the meeting said the prime minister asked which of the MPs were active on Facebook, to which most people raised their hands. The PM then asked how many of them had 300,000 likes on their

NEWDELHI: