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MSP hike just 'cosmetic', say
Akalis
WSN Network
Chandigarh: The Shiromani Akali Dal has dubbed the increase in
minimum support price for farmers as “just cosmetic”, urging the
Union government to link MSP to the “price index”.
The Union government has increased the MSP for the ensuing rabi
season by Rs 250 per quintal, the real hike being Rs 150 as the
government has offered an additional bonus of Rs 100 per quintal
too.
To derive maximum political advantage, Punjab Congress leaders were
quick to point out that wheat MSP has increased by Rs 370 per
quintal during the UPA tenure while it increased by Rs 80 only
during the NDA rule from 1999 to 2004.
However, veteran BJP leader and former food and supplies minister MM
Mittal said the massive MSP hike announced by the UPA is not for
“its concern for the farmers”, but is actuated by Lok Sabha
elections next year. “Why would the Union government announce MSP
for rabi crop when the harvesting for kharif is in progress?” he
asked, suggesting that hike was yet another “poll-related sop”.
The inflation was not very high and the prices of farm inputs
remained under control during the NDA tenure while the prices have
sky-rocketed during the UPA rule raising the cost of production,
argued Manoranjan Kalia, local bodies minister and BJP leader. “Such
comparisons without taking into consideration other factors like
inflation is erroneous and misleading,” he said, adding that MSP was
hiked during the NDA rule even when the inflation was abysmally low.
A senior bureaucrat
who dealt with procurement for some years pointed out that the food
grain stocks during the NDA tenure were overflowing and the period
was marked with “plenty”, but now the buffer stocks are far below
normal and the government was forced to augment these by importing
wheat during the last two years. “Comparisons of prices of period of
plenty with the era of scarcity is odious,” he quipped.
Moreover, the hike in wheat MSP was just Rs 20 per quintal during
the first two years of the UPA government and the massive hike has
only been announced by the UPA when it failed to procure sufficient
wheat during the last two years despite same level of production, he
said.
Farmers’ leader and founder Shetkari Sanghatana, Sharad Joshi,
pointed out that despite the generous hike in MSP, as claimed by
Union agriculture minister Sharad Yadav, the FCI could garner only
19 lakh tonnes of wheat in 2007-08 compared to last year when the
production had increased by 55 lakh tonnes. “On the other hand, the
NDA government was never forced to import wheat. The wheat MSP
during the NDA tenure was in tune with market realities,” argued
Joshi.
UPA was left with little choice than to raise the MSP to Rs 1000 per
quintal as it was forced to cancel the import order of five million
tonnes of wheat under political pressure, said Mittal.
17
October, 2007
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