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MSP hike by Central Government negligible compared to UPA era: Congress' Sapkal

Mumbai, May 30 (UNI) The BJP-led Central Government is trying to appear benevolent by increasing the Minimum Support Price (MSP), but the hike is meagre and has effectively short-changed farmers, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee President Harshavardhan Sapkal said on Friday.

He said while the Congress-led UPA government under Manmohan Singh hiked MSP by 120-150 percent between 2004 and 2014, the Modi government has only raised it by 45 percent from 2014 to 2024. "This token increase is nothing more than an illusion of generosity—akin to receiving a hollow promise," he said.
Speaking at a press conference at Gandhi Bhavan, Sapkal stated that while MSP has been marginally increased, the cost of agricultural inputs has skyrocketed.
Diesel, which cost Rs 48 per litre during the UPA era, now costs Rs 96. Subsidies on pesticides, fertilisers, and electricity have been scrapped. An 18 percent GST has been imposed on agricultural equipment, amounting to exploitation of farmers. Thus, the increase in MSP is merely symbolic.
Due to inflation, farmers are not truly benefiting from it. Agriculture is the largest employment-generating sector and a pillar of the economy, but it has been severely neglected under BJP rule, he added.
In 2023-24, India produced 47.37 lakh tonnes of jowar, but only 3.23 lakh tonnes were procured by the government. Out of 376.65 lakh tonnes of maize, just 5,000 tonnes were purchased. For bajra, the production was 107.16 lakh tonnes but procurement was only 7 lakh tonnes.
Of the 16.70 lakh tonnes of ragi produced, the government bought only 2.31 lakh tonnes. For chana, out of 115.76 lakh tonnes produced, only 43,000 tonnes were procured. As a result, farmers are forced to sell most of their produce at low prices to private traders, incurring massive financial losses, he said.
Sapkal said, in Maharashtra, the government announces procurement centres every year, but the process is riddled with inefficiencies. Even when centres are functional, their complex procedures benefit traders more than farmers. This year, the government’s MSP for soybean was Rs 4,800, but farmers had to sell it to private traders at just Rs 4,000. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture had recommended a legal guarantee for MSP and removal of taxes on agriculture and farmers.
However, the government has not implemented these suggestions. The Congress party has promised to make MSP legally binding, and it will fulfill this promise if voted to power, he added.
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Tags: #MSP hike by Central Government negligible compared to UPA era: Congress' Sapkal
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