Warangal: MSP hike is too little to make an impact, says CPI

Demands the BJP government to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission if it is really committed to the welfare of farmers

Warangal Urban: The Centre’s recent announcement of MSP hike for 15 farm produces would have little impact on the farm sector in the country, CPI State secretariat member Takkallapally Srinivas Rao said on Friday, demanding that the BJP government implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission if it is really committed to the welfare of farmers.

In a press note here on Friday, Srinivas Rao said: “With the little minimum support price (MSP) hike, the government has made it clear that improving the farm sector and the lives of farmers is not their priority. If the Centre believes that a spoonful of sugar can make an entire river sweet, they are mistaken.”

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“The government is saying that only farming has been contributing to the GDP during these pandemic times. Even after accepting this, the MSP hike is a meagre 1 to 7 per cent. Farming input costs are continuously rising with increasing prices of seed, manure, pesticides, electricity, and diesel and petrol. This has forced farmers to operate in a quicksand of rising prices and joblessness. In just 22 days (May 4 onwards), government-run oil companies have raised prices by Rs 5.17 per litre of diesel and Rs 5.24 per litre of petrol. Due to the lack of electricity in several States, farmers are forced to buy diesel at Rs 92/litre. Following the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, all farmers must be given ‘C2+50’ based on their output,” he added.

Srinivas Rao, who devised this theory, further said Rs 16 to 18 lakh crore had been given to factories in the last two years as subsidy. “But farmers are not given C2+50-based price on their produce. Urad and tuwar pulses have seen a price rise of only Rs 300 per quintal, which is better than nothing. The Centre must understand that with the hard work of the people of this country, foreign currency is earned. Out of that, a large part is spent by it on oil and pulses,” he said.

According to the government statistics, Rs 74,287 crore was spent on edible oil imports and Rs 11,375 crore on pulses in 2020-21.

“In such a situation, to make the country self-sufficient in oil and pulses, the government should encourage farmers besides ensuring MSP based on the Swaminathan formula,” Srinivas Rao added.

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