Farmers Movement Archive

'Centre can buy farm produce at MSP', says Kejriwal; shares formula

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday addressed a 'Kisan Mahapanchayat' in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh where he lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government. He said that farmers who are protesting for their livelihood have been branded as traitors.He also said that these protesters have braved biting cold and water cannons, but are still continuing their protest because it's a do-or-die situation for them. He also termed the three farm laws as "black laws".Kejriwal then focussed his attention on the issue of Minimum Support Price (MSP), which is one of the main demands of the protesters. The farmers want the system of MSP to continue, but the AAP chief claimed Centre doesn't want to buy crops at MSP.He then shared a formula how it can be done. "I heard from a central minister that buying crops at MSP us not possible because it will cost the government ₹17 lakh crore. But I have a formula using which the government won't have to spend a penny. You say ₹17 lakh crore will be spent but farmers are not asking the money for free, they will give you their crops," said Kejriwal.Further elaborating, the AAP chief said, "If the government buys the farm produce, it will sell it in the market, right? The government will sometime get ₹18 lakh crore, even ₹20 lakh crore. And at other times, it can also result in some loss and the government could earn ₹16 lakh crore," said Kejriwal."I think the government can afford a loss of ₹1-1.5 lakh crore, but keep the families of crores of farmers happy. All the losses will be recovered in 10-15 years," he added.He shared the steps taken by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi to regulate price of electricity. "I was told not to make tall promises of bringing down the rate of electricity in Delhi as the discoms are very powerful. But as you can see, our government fulfilled its promise in five years," said Kejriwal.He said that AAP was able to achieve the target because of its good intention."The Centre can waive ₹8 lakh crore of some of its friends, so why can't it implement this formula? That's because they don't have the good intention," the chief minister said.Thousands of farmers have been protesting at Delhi's borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh demanding the rollback of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the MSP system, leaving them at the "mercy" of big corporations. They are also demanding a law to guarantee that.Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured the farmers that the MSP system will continue. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, PM Modi had said the mandis in the nation would be modernised.“MSP was there. MSP is there. MSP will remain in the future. Affordable ration for the poor will continue. Mandis will be modernised," the Prime Minister had said.PM Modi also said that the central government has been making changes in the agriculture sector since 2014, aimed at improving the lives of the farmers.

Hindustan Times

28-02-2021

India