Samyukt Kisan Morcha Convener Yogendra Yadav on Monday joined farmers in protesting outside the office of Mysuru MP Pratap Simha here on Monday to demand Minimum Support Price (MSP) which Mr. Yadav claimed that the farmers across the nation were not getting though announced by the Centre.
As a part of nationwide agitation launched by farmers in support of the MSP for their produce, farmers from Mysuru dumped harvested paddy and ragi in front of the MP’s office in Jaladarshini, to explain their plight of not getting the scientific price for their produce and demand MSP as announced.
Addressing the farmers, Mr. Yadav said Prime Minister Narendra Modi says MSP is already there and will remain forever but why is it not available to farmers when it is there on paper. “Show us an example of a farmer getting MSP. For paddy, the MSP is ₹1,940 a quintal but farmers are getting ₹1,400 to 1,600 a quintal. In the case of ragi, the most nutritious food on earth, the MSP is ₹3,377 a quintal but are getting ₹1,900 quintal. But the M.S. Swaminathan Committee had recommended an MSP of ₹2,500 for paddy and ₹4,500 for ragi,” he said.
Mr. Yadav said grave injustice being done to farmers in the name of MSP must stop and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha is holding protests, organizing seminars and other events in the country from April 11 to 17 in support of MSP.
He warned of a long movement if the MSP as announced is not given to every farmer in the country. “Farmers are not seeking dhaan (donation) but dhaam (scientific pricing). They are our annadathas (food providers) and they shouldn’t beg for better prices. The price is their right,” he argued.
Mr. Yadav said the PM announced in February 2016 that the farmers’ income will be doubled in six years. “Six years have gone, let the government show which farmer’s income has been doubled,” he said.
Mysuru MP’s response
Responding to Mr. Yadav’s demands, Mr. Simha, who met the farmers and spoke about the issues raised by them, said the MSP is already there but there are some procurement issues that need to be addressed.
“After last year’s episode when farmers’ payments were delayed, a decision was taken to limit the purchase depending on the farmers’ land holding. For a farmer with less than five acres of land, procurement of 20 quintals of ragi and 20 quintals of paddy was fixed. However, last year, we procured all ragi stocks in the State but payment was delayed. This led to some protests. Therefore, the procurement was limited. However, additional grants had been sought from the Centre for purchasing the produce under MSP,” he explained.
He said the State got ₹1,341 crore from the Centre for the MSP procurement. The matter has been discussed with Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje and the issue will also be taken up with the Centre as the MP, he promised. Procurement of produce for Punjab and Haryana was different from the rest of the country as the center procures 100% of the quantity, he told the farmers.
In response, Mr. Yadav said the MSP is a policy matter and issues over procurement policy need to be taken up immediately by the MP which he has assured to do. “We thank him for his response. But the procurement has to be uniform for every farmer. Citing procurement policy, what if a farmer does not get the MSP for his produce,” he asked.
Activist S.R. Hiremath, farmer leaders including Badagalapura Nagendra, Hosakote Basavaraj, Bayyareddy, Guruprasad Kergodu of DSS and others were present.
Later, Mr. Yadav and others took part in a conclave at Kalamandira organised by various organisations under the banner of Samyukta Horata-Karnataka. A seminar was also organized where leaders and experts in the field spoke.
