MSP hike by Centre negligible compared to UPA era: Maharashtra Congress

Mumbai, May 30 (IANS) The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshwardhan Sapkal on Friday claimed that the rise in Minimum Support Price (MSP) by the BJP-led government at the Centre was negligible and it was nothing more than an illusion of generosity, akin to receiving a hollow promise.

He further said that the hike was meagre and has effectively short-changed farmers, adding that the Congress-led Dr Manmohan Singh government hiked MSP by 120-150 per cent between 2004 and 2014 while the Modi government only raised it by 45 per cent from 2014 to 2024.

Sapkal told reporters that while MSP has been marginally increased, the cost of agricultural inputs has skyrocketed.

“Diesel, which cost Rs 48 per litre during the UPA era, now costs Rs 96. Subsidies on pesticides, fertilisers, and electricity have been scrapped. An 18 per cent GST has been imposed on agricultural equipment, amounting to exploitation of farmers. Thus, the increase in MSP is merely symbolic. Due to inflation, farmers are not truly benefiting from it. Agriculture is the largest employment-generating sector and a pillar of the economy, but it has been severely neglected under BJP rule,” he added.

“In 2023-24, India produced 47.37 lakh tonnes of jowar, but only 3.23 lakh tonnes were procured by the government. Out of 376.65 lakh tonnes of maize, just 5,000 tonnes were purchased. For bajra, the production was 107.16 lakh tonnes, but procurement was only 7 lakh tonnes. Of the 16.70 lakh tonnes of ragi produced, the government bought only 2.31 lakh tonnes. For chana, out of 115.76 lakh tonnes produced, only 43,000 tonnes were procured. As a result, farmers are forced to sell most of their produce at low prices to private traders, incurring massive financial losses,” said Sapkal.

In Maharashtra, Sapkal said that the government announces procurement centres every year, but the process is riddled with inefficiencies. Even when centres are functional, their complex procedures benefit traders more than farmers.

“This year, the government’s MSP for soybean was Rs 4,800, but farmers had to sell it to private traders at just Rs 4,000. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture had recommended a legal guarantee for MSP and the removal of taxes on agriculture and farmers. However, the government has not implemented these suggestions. The Congress party has promised to make MSP legally binding, and it will fulfil this promise if voted to power,” he remarked.

He announced that Congress has planned a ‘Kya Hua Tera Wada?’ Protest on June 3 in Dabhadi, Yavatmal. During the 2014 election campaign, Narendra Modi held a ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ event in Dabhadi village, Yavatmal district, and made grand promises to farmers—doubling their income, offering MSP at 1.5 times production cost, implementing the Swaminathan Commission Report, and ensuring zero farmer suicides. Not one of these promises has been fulfilled in the last 11 years.

“On the contrary, farmer suicides have increased, with six suicides happening daily. To question Modi’s broken promises, the Congress party will organise a padyatra on June 3 in Dabhadi village under the slogan, Kya Hua Tera Wada?” the Congress leader said.

Sapkal said that the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had once claimed, ‘I don’t allow any wrongdoing in my cabinet’. However, he added that his colleague, Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate, continues to make irresponsible and insulting remarks about farmers.

“First, he compared farmers to beggars, then claimed that farmers use debt waivers for weddings and engagements of their daughters. Most recently, he arrogantly questioned whether ‘panchnamas’ should be done for lumps of soil,” he noted. Sapkal angrily asked if the Minister was in his senses and demanded that the CM and Deputy CM take him to task—otherwise, Congress and farmers will do what’s necessary.

--IANS

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