Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP in Rajya Sabha from Punjab Raghav Chadha has introduced a private Bill, the Minimum Support Price Guarantee Bill, to guarantee MSP to farmers for their crops. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has been urging the Centre to bring such a legislation.
Mr. Chadha said the Centre betrayed the promise to protesting farmers for legal guarantee on MSP for agricultural produce. He said the Bill he introduced will coerce the Centre to hold a debate on the issue. “I will fight for farmers’ rights till my last breath,” he added.
He said no experts or representatives from Punjab was included in the committee on MSP, which was recently constituted by the Centre. He said there is a need to revise the A2+FL formula with the C2+ 50% as per recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee. “Comprehensive Cost (C2) is the actual cost of production as it takes into account the rent and interest foregone on the land and machinery owned by farmers, in addition to the A2+FL rate,” he said.
The Bills suggests that the Centre shall constitute ‘Commission for Guaranteed Minimum Support Price’, for carrying out purposes of the Bill. “A legal guarantee to farmers for Minimum Support Price on the basis of C2+FL formula, backed by a binding legislation is the need of the hour for protecting the primary sector and ensuring welfare of the farmers,” Mr. Chadha said, in the Statement of objects and reasons of the Bill.
According to the Bill, any trader who violates the provision shall amount to have committed a cognisable offence and punishable for a minimum penalty of ₹1 lakh, or 200 % of losses suffered by the farmers on account of non-payment of guaranteed MSP. The penalties include cancellation of trading licences and banning from getting entitled with any business dealing with trading in the primary sector, and an imprisonment for at least three months and not more than two years.
