Farmers protest echoes at pre-Budget meet, BKU flags ‘genuine’ MSP demand

The ongoing protest by Punjab farmers for legal backing to the minimum support price (MSP) regime echoed at a crucial pre-Budget meeting the government had with select farmers and farm bodies here on Saturday.

Advertisement

At the meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by the Secretary, Agriculture, and Secretary, Agricultural Research, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU)-Non-Political urged the Centre to engage the agitating farmers from Punjab, arguing their demand for fair MSP was genuine and needed resolution.

“We raised the issue of the need to strengthen the MSP regime, citing the example of a prolonged agitation by Punjab farmers, and urged the government to engage the protesters and consider their demands,” Dharmendra Malik, BKU-Non-Political spokesperson, who attended the meeting along with 11 farmers and farm body representatives, told The Tribune today. Representing Punjab was Bharat Krishak Samaj chairman Ajay Vir Jakhar, a citrus farmer.

At the meeting, which lasted nearly two hours, the farmers and unions presented a wish list to the FM ahead of the Budget preparation.

The primary demands included equation of the MSP to minimum reserve price under the Essential Commodities Act of 1955; expansion of the MSP to cover perishable items such as onions, potatoes and milk; inclusion of farmers’ land rent in the MSP calculation formula; enhancement of annual income support under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000; abolition of the GST on agricultural inputs and zero premium for small farmers under the PM crop insurance scheme.

Some participants said the FM was open to considering the demand for removal of the GST on items meant purely for agriculture. “The FM has sought a list of purely agricultural equipment and input, and viewed the demand to abolish the GST from agriculture input positively,” said a farm leader who attended the consultations.

On the issue of declaring the MSP as reserve price, the participants said it would resolve the issue of granting legal backing to the MSP.

“The Essential Commodities Act, 1955, empowers the Centre to declare a minimum reserve price at which essential commodities can be purchased or sold. Section 3 of the Act deals with the Centre’s powers to control the production, supply and distribution of essential commodities and to undertake measures, if it deems necessary, to maintain or increase supplies of essential commodities or to secure their equitable distribution and availability at fair prices. We are saying that the MSP should be declared as the reserve price. No one should be allowed to buy below the MSP,” said Dharmendra Malik of the BKU while submitting memoranda of demands to the FM.

Jakhar sought uniform taxation in the agricultural markets. “Uniform taxation in agri markets across India, like the GST, will pave the way for improved governance, systems efficiency, mitigation of food inflation and price fluctuations, and will ignite entrepreneurial spirits to drive competition to benefit farmers and consumers alike,” Jakhar suggested at the meeting.

He also proposed financing for focused agricultural research. “Deploy Rs 1,000 crore per year on three crops — pulses (gram/chickpea); oilseeds (soya bean, kharif) and mustard (rabi) for eight years. Indian consumption and yield potential being very high, this move will reduce dependence on excessive imports and higher national nutritional security and farmer profitability,” Jahkar suggested.

Others present at the meeting included Ashish Patel, director, Vam Agro Forest Private Limited, Gujarat; Sanjay Singh, director, Centre of Technology and Entrepreneurship Development, UP; Badri Narayan Choudhary, chairman, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh; Pradip Dave, president, The Pesticides Manufacturers and Formulators Association of India; Pramod Kumar Choudhary, all-India president, Bharatiya Agro Economic Research Centre; RG Agarwal, chairman, Agri Business Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce; Sagar Kaushik, president, Corporate Affairs UPL Ltd; Sachin Kumar Sharma, professor, Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade; and Moinuddin, progressive farmer from Lucknow.