Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala with party Secretary Vineet Punia addresses a press conference, at the party headquarters, in New Delhi on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Congress on Thursday claimed that the Narendra Modi government merely announced minimum support price (MSP) for farmers but never procured their produce at those rates.

Addressing a press conference, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala claimed the government had turned the MSP into “maximum suffering of the producer” which proved that the BJP had “anti-farmer DNA”.

A day after the Union government announced the MSP for the Kharif crops for 2023-24, Mr. Surjewala claimed that the the MSP was not only far less than what the farmers should ideally get but the government made very limited purchases even on this meagre price.

He said the government had promised to fix the MSP of various crops after computing the input costs plus 50% profit following the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices but the actual support prices were way below this level.

“When there is no intention to procure crops on MSP, what is the purpose of announcing it,” asked Mr. Surjewala, adding “The Modi Cabinet pretends to announce MSP for Kharif crops. But, there are bitter truths related to this. Farmer’s crop is not bought at all on MSP in India, farmer does not get 50% profit on cost. Every policy and DNA of the Modi government is anti-farmer”.

In the last four years, the Modi government did not spend around ₹80,000 crore from the budget of the Agriculture Ministry and the names of two crore farmers were removed from the list of Kisan Samman Nidhi beneficiaries, he alleged. Under the “Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi” (PM-KISAN) scheme, a financial benefit of ₹6,000 per year was provided to eligible farmer families, payable in three equal instalments of ₹2,000.

‘PR hungry govt.’

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, “The Modi government had made two promises to the farmers of the country — fixing the MSP at cost plus 50% profit and doubling the income of farmers of the country by 2022. Both promises turned out to be false. The PR hungry Modi government, which is pretending to increase the MSP on Kharif crop does not buy crops on MSP at all. The budget for agriculture was cut”.

“Nine years of the Modi government has become a curse for 62 crore farmers of the country,” the Congress chief added.

“No cost plus 50 per cent profit. No buying at MSP. No double income. In nine years of the BJP government, what did the farmers get except ‘jumlas’ in elections, lathis on the back and kicks on the stomach,” asked Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Twitter.

File photo used for representational purposes only. The Union Cabinet approved a ₹143 hike in the MSP of paddy to ₹2,183/quintal for 2023-24.
| Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

The Centre has set the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for paddy sown in the kharif or monsoon season at ₹2,183 per quintal, a hike of ₹143 per quintal in comparison to last year. The 2023-24 MSPs for 17 kharif crops and variants were approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, .

The sowing of the crops, mainly paddy, has started in most States. While the Centre said that its aim was to ensure reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers and to encourage crop diversification, several farmers’ organisations said that the increase was not in tune with rising input costs.

Also Read | An MSP scheme to transform Indian agriculture

‘Highest increase’

Food Minister Piyush Goyal told reporters after the CCEA meeting that farmers will benefit from the increase in the MSP at a time when the retail inflation is declining. “In agriculture, we have been fixing MSP from time to time based on the recommendations of Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). The increase in MSP of the kharif crops for this year is highest compared to the previous years,” he said.

Apart from paddy, new MSPs have been set for major pulses. The MSP for moong is ₹8,558 per quintal, an increase of ₹803 from last year, one of the highest increases among kharif crops. The MSP for tur or arhar has been set at ₹7,000 per quintal, which is estimated to be 58% above the cost of production. This is in keeping with the Centre’s promise to set MSPs which are at least one and a half times the all-India weighted average cost of production.

Bajra, tur margins high

“The expected margin to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of bajra (82%) followed by tur (58%), soybean (52%) and urad (51%). For the rest of the crops, the margin to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%,” said an official statement.

The MSP of ‘A’ grade variety of paddy has been increased to ₹2,203 per quintal from ₹2,060. For jowar (hybrid) and jowar (maldandi) the rates are ₹3,180 and ₹3,225 per quintal respectively. Last season, it was ₹2,970 and ₹2,990. For maize, the increase is ₹128 per quintal and the new rate will be ₹2,090. For ragi, this year’s MSP will be ₹3,846 per quintal, which is an increase of ₹268.

Among oilseeds, the MSP for sesamum is ₹8,635 per quintal, ₹6,377 for groundnut, and ₹4,600 for soybean. In the case of niger seed, the new MSP is ₹7,734 per quintal, and for sunflower seed, it is ₹6,760. For cotton (long stable) and cotton (medium stable), the MSPs are at ₹7,020 per quintal and ₹6,620 per quintal respectively.

‘Faulty production estimates’

The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a platform of about 500 farm outfits, questioned the Centre’s claims and said that the new MSPs were not linked to the real expenses of farming. Senior SKM leader Ashok Dhawale said that the MSP for kharif crops is nowhere near the C2+50% formula proposed by the Swaminathan Commission.

“The cost of production estimates given by the government are themselves extremely faulty and underrated, and thus the MSP figures are also very unsatisfactory. The SKM and All India Kisan Sabha express anger at the constant short-changing of farmers by the BJP regime led by Narendra Modi, and vow to intensify their struggle for a fair and just MSP, which can only be won by changing the current BJP government in the general elections next year,” he said in a statement.

Senior farm leader Hannan Mollah said that the Centre has not taken into account the increase in irrigation costs and fertiliser costs. “The government has betrayed the farmers by announcing MSP far below C2+50%. It has not put up the ‘Report on Price Policy of Kharif Crops for 2023-24 Season’ by the CACP yet,” he added.