Farmers Movement Archive

PM Modi rejecting own report on MSP: Congress

JAIPUR: Supporting farmers’ call for Bharat Bandh against the three farm bills passed by Parliament, the Congress on Friday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was rejecting his own recommendation given to the Government of India when he was the Gujarat chief minister about protecting farmers’ interests by ‘mandating’ for minimum support price (MSP) through ‘statutory provisions’. Congress national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said if the Modi government can guarantee MSP by mandating for it in the three recently passed farms bills, the famers would call off their stir. “Why is PM Modi not accepting CM Modi’s report sent to the GoI and not including MSP in the three farm bills,” Surjewala asked, while reading out from the report, which he called a “sensational expose” on the Modi government during a press conference here. “This is the worst kind of political dishonesty,” Surjewala added. He did not specify the date when Modi sent this “Report of Working Group on Consumer Affairs” to GoI. The Congress leader claimed that the farms bills were a “disgusting conspiracy” against the “kisan, khet aur khalihan (farmers, farms and barns)” by the Centre. “This government is attacking the three basic features of our Green Revolution launched in 1965-66—a government system to buy crops, MSP and ration shops,” said Surjewala. He added, “The FCI, which finds it hard to buy crops from 43,000 existing mandis, will it go to farms of 15.5-cr farmers to buy at MSP when there would be no mandis?” The Congressman said shutting mandis will deprive livelihood to different categories of crores of labourers. Surjewala accused PM Modi of misleading the nation on the farm bills. “As per the agriculture census of 2015-16, 86.2% farmers are owners of less than 5-acre land; of these 80% farmers have just 2-acre land. Can these farmers with small landholdings afford to travel across the country to sell their produce?” he said. Surjewala alleged, “Modi ji swears by farmers but stays true to his friendship with crony capitalist friends.” Earlier, chief minister Ashok Gehlot said the Centre government that fell back on its written agreement with the states about sharing GST cannot be trusted on its verbal promises to farmers. “Ever since it came to power, the NDA government has been taking unilateral decisions, be it notebandi or lockdown or the farm bills. No farmer organisations or their representatives were consulted on these bills, which will destroy the agriculture system that has been built in 40-50 years,” Gehlot said. Chhattisgarh cabinet minister TS Singh Deo said the Modi-government was attacking the country’s federal structure by framing laws on agriculture, which was a state subject. Surjewala said the Modi-government has held the parliament ‘captive’. “There is attack in the country by the coronavirus, on the borders by China and in the barns by Modi ji,” he said.

The Times of India

2020-09-26

Jaipur