Hyderabad National International Specials General

Swaraj Abhiyan launches All India MSP Satyagraha for Farmers today

Wed 07 Mar 2018, 15:28:01

Swaraj India's Yogendra Yadav, along with Avik Saha, National Convenor, Jai Kisan Andolan and Madhuresh, National Convenor, National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM) on March 7 launched All India Minimum Support Price (MSP) Satyagraha.

Minimum Support Price (MSP) is at the heart of the existing system to ensure fair and remunerative returns to farmers. Thus MSP is a solemn guarantee to the farmers to the effect that the Central Government shall ensure a floor price, should the farmers fail to get even that level.

The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's budget speech of 2018 laid special emphasis on the Central Government's commitment to ensuring MSP to the farmers. Jaitley announced and assured that his Government had already implemented (for the majority of Rabi crops) and was going to further implement (for unannounced Rabi and Kharif crops) its electoral promise of ensuring prices that yield at least 50% returns over the cost of

production.

Swaraj Abhiyan claimed that Farmers' Movements have already exposed this claim to be a case of sleight-of-hand. Mr Jaitley has already admitted that the cost he was speaking about was not comprehensive C2 cost but partial cost known as A2 + FL.

They further said that the Finance Minister and subsequently the Prime Minister Narendra Modi also admitted that increasing MSP is not adequate and it is more important that farmers should get full benefit of the announced MSP and for achieving this, the Government was going to take special steps this year to ensure that all farmers actually get the MSP announced by the Government. Jaitley further promised that if prices at agriculture produce markets is less than MSP, then the Government shall purchase either at MSP or provide MSP to the farmers through some other mechanism; Niti Ayog, in consultation with Central and State Governments, shall put in place a fool-proof mechanism so that farmers will get adequate price for their produce.

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