Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said while the UPA government had told the Parliament that fixing MSP at 50 per cent over the cost of production would distort the market, it was the Narendra Modi government which implemented it in 2018. He also asked the Opposition MPs to come up with suggestions that could be implemented.
Mentioning that Prime Minister Modi is prioritising agriculture and farmer welfare, Chouhan targeted the Opposition and said: “Those who have not seen the fields, have not seen the footpaths, do not know the soil, are talking about the welfare of the farmers.”
During the discussion on the demands for grants related to the Agriculture Ministry in the Lok Sabha, Chouhan said: “Positive suggestions are always welcome. We will consider them and work to implement them.”
Ducking controversies
The government which had promised before 2014 to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendation on fixing the minimum support price (MSP) at 50 per cent profit over cost of production, had rolled it out before 2019 poll on the basis of A2+FL cost of production and not the comprehensive cost (C2). Farmers have still been demanding MSPs be fixed at C2 costs basis as per the Swaminathan Commission.
Though many of his remarks like the number of utterances of the word ‘farmer’ in Independence Day speeches of different prime ministers were repetition of his reply in Parliament, he responded to some of the allegations while avoiding the controversial ones.
Responding to an MP’s allegation that a maize research centre under ICAR, proposed in Begusarai, Bihar, is getting shifted to Shimoga in Karnataka, Chouhan said “There is no truth in it. The centre will be set up in Bihar as well as another in Karnataka.” However, he avoided touching the percentage hike in MSPs of wheat and paddy during UPA and NDA tenures as mentioned by the MP Sudhakar Singh.
The MSP of paddy was hiked 128 per cent and that of wheat by 119 per cent during UPA’s tenure whereas the hike in paddy MSP was 64 per cent and that of wheat 63 per cent during NDA government, data show.
Budget allocation
Highlighting that farmers are the food providers and “serving farmers is like worshipping God for us”, Chouhan pointed out that when the UPA was in power, Budget allocation for agriculture was less, about ₹1.5 lakh crore in 10 years, whereas from 2014 onwards the allocation has crossed ₹10 lakh crore. “It would be event more if allocations for cooperation, fisheries and animal husbandry are added,” he said.
He said that under the Digital Agriculture Mission, launched by the government, a separate digital farmer ID will be created and every farmer will have an identity card.
