'Promise of giving farmers 50% higher MSP than cost is fraud'
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday claimed the Narendra Modi government's promise of giving farmers 50 per cent higher minimum support price than the cost they incur is a "fraud" and alleged the "recent paltry hike in MSP for Rabi crops is another step towards cheating them".
The party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that all policies of the BJP government are "for the benefit of crony capitalists. Be it through crop insurance scheme, raising production cost by Rs 25,000 per hectare or the three new farm laws it aims to usurp the land of farmers."
He also shared details of the cost of production of various crops to claim that the MSP for wheat, barley, grams, lentils and sunflower was far lower than the cost arrived at by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) formula plus 50 per cent according to the Swaminathan Commission report.
"The Modi government's promise of giving 50 per cent higher MSP than their cost is a fraud with farmers. The government continues to favour crony capitalists through its policies. The recent paltry hike in MSP for Rabi crops is another step in this direction of cheating farmers," Surjewala said in a statement.
He said the MSP for wheat is Rs 2015, whereas the cost as per the CACP formula comes to Rs 1,518 per quintal and the MSP (with 50 per cent more) should be Rs 2,277 per quintal.
In the last seven years, the government has increased additional input costs of Rs 25,000 per hectare by raising prices of pesticides, fertilizers and diesel prices, the Congress spokesperson alleged.
He claimed the government has reduced the buying of crops at MSP from farmers and cited a purported reply of the Agriculture ministry in Parliament that the government has bought crops from 2.10 crore farmers in 2020-21 while there are a total of 14.65 crore farmers in the country.
"Farmers need their righteous income after hard labour. If the Modi government does not stop this conspiracy against the farmers then the coming generations will never forgive the BJP," Surjewala said.
Surjewala also slammed the government over the recent hike in MSPs for Rabi crops saying it was "too little" and is like "deception" with the farmers.
The government on Wednesday hiked the minimum support price for wheat by Rs 40 to Rs 2,015 per quintal to boost production as well as farmers income and asserted that the system of purchasing crops at support prices will continue.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for six Rabi (winter-sown) crops grown in 2021-22 crop year (July-June) and traded in Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23.
