After repealing the three controversial farm legislations, the Government has invited farmers for talks and asked them to suggest names of their representatives to set up a committee for discussions to make the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system more effective and transparent as well as to suggest ways to promote zero budgeting based-agriculture.
The move comes after the 32 farmers’ groups gave a deadline by Tuesday (November 30) to the Centre on their six demands. Farmers have called an emergency meeting on December 1 and another meeting on December 4 to decide the further course of action. In a related development, the Manoharlal Khattar Government in Haryana has invited farmers for talks while the Ashok Gehlot Government in Rajasthan has sought a list of farmers’ cases in the State.
Farmers’ leader Darshan Pal said the Government has sought five names from farmer unions for panel on MSP and other issues.
Pal said the farmers groups under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will decide on names in its December 4 meeting. Sources said the committee will have representatives of the Central Government, State Governments, farmers, agricultural scientists, and agricultural economists. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has even asked States/UTs, to consider the withdrawal of all cases filed against farmers who were part of the agitation as law and order is a subject.
According to SKM, there was a telephone call from the Centre to a Punjab farmer union leader, wherein they wanted five names to be suggested from SKM's side for a committee. "However, we have received no written communication and no details are available so far about what this Committee is about, its mandate or Terms of Reference. In the absence of such details, it would be premature to comment on this issue," the SKM said.
Meanwhile, in a reply to Lok Sabha on a legal backing to the MSP, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar did not furnish any clear reply to a question, “whether the Government has any plan to introduce legal backing to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to agricultural products”. The question was raised by K Muraleedharan .
Apart from the repeal of the farm laws, a legal guarantee on MSP has been one of the major demands of the protesting farmer unions.
Presently, the Government decides the MSP based on the recommendation of the expert body the Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices (CACP). The factors considered by the CACP for fixing MSPs include cost of production, domestic and international prices, demand-supply conditions, inter-crop price parity, terms of trade between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. MSP is announced for the kharif crops of paddy, jowar, bajara, ragi, maize, arhar, moong, urad, cotton, groundnut, sunflower seed, soyabean and sesamum.
The rabi crops for which MSP is announced are wheat, barley, gram, masur, rapeseeds & mustard, safflower and toria. Besides, MSP is announced for copra, de-husked coconut, jute and Fair Remunerative Prices (FRP) for sugarcane.
