MSP means ‘maximum suffering for producers’ says Randeep Surjewala
New Delhi: The Congress accused the Modi government of deceiving farmers across the country in the name of the Minimum Support Price (MSP), saying that the MSP does not even cover the input costs and most of the crops are not being purchased at MSP. “The MSP has become the maximum suffering for the producers,” remarked the party general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Referring to the MSP on paddy announced by the Government of India, he said it was Rs 766 less than the input costs. He said while the input cost of the paddy per quintal was Rs 3,135, the government had announced only Rs 2,369 MSP for the paddy. He said even the NDA/BJP-ruled states had said that the input costs were more than the MSP. Giving details, he said Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra had said that the input costs of paddy per quintal were Rs 3,260, Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,783 respectively.
Surjewala said that the marginal increase in MSP by the government is less than the inflation rate. He said that farmers’ costs are rising due to the increase in prices of diesel, electricity, seeds and fertilisers, but the government is not even covering their basic expenses.
He also referred to the reduction of Rs 24,000 crore in fertiliser subsidy by the government. Besides, he added, the government does not purchase all the crops for which it has announced the MSP. “What is the point of announcing the MSP when there is no purchase?” he asked.
The Congress general secretary said that the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Agriculture had recommended the MSP guarantee law and removal of GST on agricultural products, but the government trashed that report. He also accused the government of not spending Rs three lakh crore allocated for farming schemes.
Rubbishing the government claims of giving C2+50 percent as MSP to farmers as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, Surjewala said the fact is that farmers are not even getting their input costs. He said that except for wheat and paddy, the government does not procure any other crops at MSP. While giving the data on various crops, he said that the government purchases are negligible compared to overall production.
Proving his point that the government was merely announcing the MSP but not actually purchasing the crops, he gave details of the quantity of various crops produced versus those procured by the government. He said that 16 lakh 53 thousand tons of barley was produced, but nothing was purchased at MSP. Sorghum production was 47 lakh 37 thousand tons, purchase was 3 lakh 23 thousand tons only. Similarly, he added, production of maize was 376 lakh 65 thousand tons, purchase was only five thousand tons. The production of millet was 107 lakh 16 thousand tons, while the purchase was about seven lakh tons only. Ragi production was 16 lakh 70 thousand tons, while only 2 lakh 31 thousand tons were purchased. Production of gram was 115 lakh 76 thousand tons, purchase was only 43 thousand tons. Mustard production was 131 lakh 61 thousand tons, Modi government bought only 12 lakh 9 thousand tons.
