msp and problem
Ahead of the nationwide protests by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) demanding
a law to ensure minimum support price,
NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand said
here on Wednesday that the MSP should continue till markets become competitive and efficient.
The MSP can be given through means other than procurement, he said at a conference on “Getting agriculture markets right,” triggering reactions from leaders of the SKM.
Hannan Mollah, senior SKM leader and general secretary of the All-India Kisan Sabha, said
- farmers were demanding a law to ensure MSP.
- “Only two items are procured of the 23 crops that have an MSP.
- MSP without a legal guarantee will not be effective as the input cost has increased,” he said.
Direct relation
Pavel Kussa, coordinator of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan),
said the MSP was directly linked to the food security of the country.
“MSP is linked to procurement, storage and distribution of foodgrains through public distribution system.
The NITI Aayog member seems to have forgotten the statement of Food Minister Piyush Goyal asking States to encourage paddy sowing.
Farmers cultivate paddy as there is MSP and procurement of the crop. MSP without procurement has no meaning,” he said.
DPP method
Addressing the conference, Mr. Chand had also said that “deficiency pricing payment (DPP)”
was one such means of giving MSP to farmers, but added that the DPP could not be stopped once implemented.
“Under DPP, the difference between the open market price and MSP is given to farmers.
It has been implemented in some States like Madhya Pradesh,” he said.
“In some cases, MSP is justified in times of volatility in prices and glut. I feel what matters is how we give MSP to farmers.
MSP has to be there as long as markets are not competitive and efficient. But MSP can be given through means other than procurement,” he said.
Mr. Chand added that he had given a detailed presentation on the issue to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He said the difference between open market price and MSP
- was about 12-15% and
- MSP-fixed 23 crops would require ₹80,000 crore based on 1920 price.
He said in the future,
- there could be differences in sarkari crops (MSP-fixed crops) and bajaari (commercial) crops and
- added that corporates were showing interest in innovation in bajaari crops.
Revamped protests
The SKM is relaunching its protests demanding
- legalised MSP from July 18,
- when the monsoon session of Parliament begins.
- The SKM will hold nationwide rallies
- asking the Centre to implement the promises it had made while repealing the three farm laws.
Comments
Post a Comment