The NDA government has been paying farmers an MSP of 50% return over the cost of production following the recommendations of the M S Swaminathan Commission and has doubled the MSP while quadrupling production, Union Minister for Agriculture Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Friday in Rajya Sabha during the Question Hour.
Responding to supplementary questions by Congress MP Mukul Wasnik, Chouhan said that the Narendra Modi-led government has worked towards increasing farm output, reducing input costs, and giving fair prices. Wasnik sought to know whether farmers were protesting for a legal guarantee of MSP and if the government was considering a law on this.
Taking a swipe at the UPA government, Chouhan said, “I want to remind the member that the Swaminathan Commission had recommended that MSP should be 50% profit over input costs. But the then UPA government had refused it.”
He said that it was the Modi government that, in 2019, said that MSP should be 50% over costs of production.
“We also doubled the MSP compared to what the UPA offered,” he said. He said the Modi government is paying Rs 2,369 MSP for paddy compared to Rs 1,310 offered during the UPA tenure.
He also drew comparisons of prices of jowar, bajra, finger millets, groundnuts, pulses and oilseeds. The Union minister then cited the example of increased procurement under NDA and said that it had risen four-fold under the Modi government. Wasnik, though, said that his question was unanswered.
“Around 1.12 lakh farmers have died by suicide in the last decade, the debt of farmers has risen to Rs 28.5 lakh crore. I have asked about a legal guarantee of MSP because on November 15, 2024, while touring Maharashtra, the PM announced in a public rally that Rs 6,000 per quintal will be offered for soya bean, but this price has not been given yet,” Wasnik said.
The Congress MP then asked again as to what formula was followed to fix MSP. Chouhan replied that the NDA government is offering 50% return over cost of production, adding the Centre is procuring 100% of tur, masur and urad.
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He said that the NDA government was also buying fruits and vegetables under the market-intervention scheme. “We are buying grapes, apples, ginger, mangoes, red chillies, and you are questioning us. We have pledged to give fair prices,” he said.
Chouhan alleged the Congress-run Karnataka government did not adhere to the guarantees it had made on procurements.
Meanwhile, John Brittas of CPI (Marxist) asked the minister if there was a demand to increase the number covered under a fixed MSP and whether Kerala is owed dues of Rs 1,206.69 crore for paddy procurement from Centre since 2017-18. To this, Chouhan responded that apart from the 22 scheduled crops under MSP, the government is procuring other crops under market-intervention scheme. He said that dues, if any, would be paid only after due accounting of any gaps.
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