New Delhi: Farmers will observe the MSP guarantee week from April 11 to 17. Public awareness campaigns will be conducted across the country by staging dharnas, holding demonstrations and conducting seminars. Despite all the claims, the farmers are still forced to sell their crops below the MSP. Even after four months of the government’s assurance, the committee on MSP is not formed.
The MSP Guarantee Week is being held under the aegis of Samyukta Kisan Morcha. Under this programme, the public awareness campaign will be held at different places urging the government to make the Minimum Support Price (MSP) a legal right of farmers. The announcement of this programme was made at a meeting of Samyukta Kisan Morcha in Delhi on March 14.
It may be recalled that even before the launch of the Morcha in Delhi in November 2020, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha had raised the demand for a legal guarantee of the minimum support price. This demand was reiterated in every discussion of the 11 rounds of talks with the government. This demand is in accordance with the recommendation of the Farmers Commission (Swaminathan Commission) of the Government of India, the report submitted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself as the Chief Minister of Gujarat, and the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) during this government. In the 2014 elections, despite promising to ensure one-and-a-half times the cost to the farmer, the Modi government has reneged on its pledge.
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Samyukta Kisan Morcha would like to remind that on November 19, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while announcing the repeal of the anti-farmer laws, had announced the formation of a committee to look into the MSP and other issues. This was also mentioned in the assurance letter of the government. But today, even after four months, the government has not constituted the committee. On March 22, the government had sent a verbal message to the Samyukta Kisan Morcha to give some names for the committee. But, after the Morcha demanded a written explanation regarding the constitution of the committee, its chairmanship, its TOR (Terms of Reference) and tenure, the government has again kept mum. Obviously, the intention of the government on the question is not clear.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha has also refuted the misconception that farmers are getting prices above MSP on all crops this season. Wheat prices had increased due to the Ukraine war, yet the price of wheat in most of the mandis of the country in the first week of April did not exceed the official MSP of ₹ 2,015. Wheat is being sold at a lower price in many mandis of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. In Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, chana is selling well below the MSP of ₹5,230. Finger millet, the staple crop of Karnataka, is selling at ₹ 2,500 or even less, much below the MSP of ₹3,377. The same is the case with safflower. Arhar, urad and winter paddy are also being sold below MSP. (All these figures have been taken from the government's own website Agrimarknet in the first week of April). Samyukta Kisan Morcha appeals to the farmers and farmers' organisations across the country to organise at least one programme in their respective districts between April 11 and 17 so that preparations can be started for the nationwide movement on the MSP.
