MSP panel standoff: Samyukta Kisan Morcha says no provision to make MSP a legal right

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, July 19

While rejecting the Centre’s 29-member committee on minimum support price, saying that so-called farmer leaders, corporate members and those who formed the now-repealed farm laws are its members, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha also pointed that nowhere does the agenda mention “giving legal guarantee to MSP, one of their main demands”.

“Even the agenda of the committee does not include provisions for making laws on mandatory MSP for all crops,” farmer leaders said, rejecting the committee downright.   

However, according to Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the government never told the SKM that it would constitute a committee to provide legal guarantee of MSP.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha on whether the Government had assured the SKM for the constitution of such a committee in December 2021, Tomar today said: “The Government had assured the formation of a committee to make MSP more effective and transparent, to promote natural farming and to change crop pattern keeping in mind the changing needs of the country. Accordingly, a committee has been constituted consisting of representatives of farmers, Central government, state governments, agricultural economists and scientists, etc”.

The government fixes MSP for 22 mandated agricultural crops and Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), after considering views of state governments and Central ministries and departments concerned and other relevant factors, Tomar said.

“The Government has increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other Commercial crops with a minimum return of 50 per cent over all India weighted average cost of production from year 2018-19 onwards,” he added.

The Government yesterday set up a committee to look into issues related to agriculture, including making MSP more effective and transparent, crop diversification and natural farming, eight months after it promised to set up such a panel while withdrawing the three contentious farm laws.

The umbrella body of farmers’ organisations that led the over one-year protest against three central farm laws, however, also said they had no plans to nominate three representatives to the panel.

According to the notification, the committee will hold discussions on making available MSP to farmers by making the system more effective and transparent; suggestions on practicality to give more autonomy to CACP and measures to make it more scientific; and strengthen the agricultural marketing system as per the changing requirements of the country to ensure higher value to the farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by taking advantage of the domestic and the export opportunities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19, 2021, while announcing the repeal of the three controversial farm laws that triggered a massive farmer protest at Delhi borders, had also said that the government will set up a committee to “make MSP more effective and transparent as well as suggest ways to promote zero budget natural farming.”

Thousands of  farmers, especially from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh staged protests at Delhi borders against the three laws which were repealed but the stalemate continued as they also sought assurance on other demands like legal guarantee on MSP, compensation to families of farmers who died during the movement and withdrawal of cases against them.

Farmers said they agreed to suspend agitation and return home after the government promised to fulfil their remaining demands.

22 mandated crops 

22 mandated crops include 14 Kharif crops—paddy, jowar, bajra, maize, ragi, tur (arhar), moong urad, groundnut, soyabean, sunflower, sesamum, niger seed and cotton—six Rabi crops—wheat, barley, gram, masur (lentil), rapeseed, mustard and safflower—and two commercial crops—jute and copra. In addition, MSP for toria and de-husked coconut are also fixed on the basis of MSPs of rapeseed/mustard and copra, respectively. 

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