Ahead of budget, Cong demands legal guarantee for MSP

NEW DELHI: A day before the presentation of the Union budget, the Congress on Monday said the Centre must make three important announcements of making MSP a legal guarantee, fix MSP on the basis of the Swaminathan formula and establish a permanent commission to monitor the implementation of farm loan waivers.

Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh said that of all the "failures" of the central government, the "incompetence and ill-will" of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare is the most damaging.

"While the UPA had raised the MSP of wheat by 119% and that of rice by 134%, the Modi government has raised it by 47% and 50% respectively. This is not at all enough to keep up with inflation and the rising prices of agricultural inputs," Ramesh said in a statement.

He pointed out that farmers' debt has increased tremendously.

According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), outstanding loans have increased by 58 per cent since 2013, he said.

"More than half of the farmers are debt-ridden. Since 2014, we have seen more than 1 lakh farmers die by suicide," Ramesh said.

"The Central Government needs to make three key announcements for farm welfare in the upcoming Budget: Raise MSP for 22 crops that come under MSP, in line with the C2+50% formula as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission," he said.

Ramesh said the government must give a legal status to MSP and establish a system to implement it firmly, including strategic procurement, better regulation and price differential compensation.

"All it takes is determination and courage," he said.

Ramesh also called for the establishment of a permanent commission to assess the need for, assess the magnitude of, and monitor the implementation of farm loan waivers.

This much-needed step will provide relief to debt-ridden farmers, he said in his statement in Hindi.

"Remember that the central government has all the power to take all three of these steps. It is just waiting for the self-proclaimed non-biological Prime Minister to show some courage and give up his stubbornness and take a decision in the interest of farmers," Ramesh said.

"In November 2021, after the withdrawal of the three black farm laws, the self-proclaimed non-biological Prime Minister had announced the formation of a committee to review matters related to MSP. It took the government eight months to form the committee - and two years later, it has still not released an interim report," he said, attacking PM Narendra Modi.

Had the government wanted, the report would have been released by now and MSP would have gotten legal status, he argued.

The Congress government in Telangana has started waiving farm loans for farmers in the state, he said.

"This will provide relief to a total of 40 lakh farmers on loans up to Rs 2 lakh. In 2008, the UPA led by Dr. Manmohan Singh had waived off farm loans worth Rs 72,000 crore. This benefited a large number of farmers, including 54 lakh farmers of UP, 42 lakh farmers of Maharashtra, 8.9 lakh farmers of Haryana, 17.6 lakh farmers of Bihar and 6.66 lakh farmers of Jharkhand," Ramesh said.

"The government of the non-biological Prime Minister has waived off bank loans of Rs 16 lakh crore of capitalists. But on the other hand, despite receiving a record Rs 2.11 lakh crore dividend from the RBI this year, it has not waived off even a single rupee of agricultural loan of the farmers," he alleged.

"Will the self-proclaimed non-biological prime minister, who is still recovering from the wounds of the decisive personal, political and moral defeat on June 4, take these important steps for agricultural welfare?" Ramesh said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget on Tuesday.