SKM to boycott first meeting of MSP panel slated on Aug 22 in Delhi

The names of three farmer representatives were sought from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which split into two, however, both factions decided to boycott the committee. Although it is said that many farmer organizations were willing to join the committee, but due to a lack of consensus, they could not join.

New Delhi: Amid the boycott by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the 22-member committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) set up by the Centre in July will hold its maiden meeting on August 22 in Delhi, ETV Bharat has learned. Sources also said the committee constituted by the Central Government to make MSP effective and give opinion on other agriculture related subjects will hold the first formal meeting on August 22, at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research premises.

However, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has announced that it will boycott the committee and will not participate in it. The agenda for the August 22 meeting is yet to be decided but a senior member of the committee said that the members representing farmers have started discussing MSP and other related issues in their respective organizations.

Another member said that it would be better if all the farmers' representatives were included in the committee and they can go to the farmers of different regions in the country and listen to their views. The committee is expected to look at ways to make available MSP to farmers by making the system more effective and transparent. It will also suggest the practicality of giving more autonomy to CACP that fixes the MSP of Agri crops, and measures to make it more scientific.

Further, the panel will look at ways to strengthen the Agricultural Marketing System as per the changing requirements of the country to ensure higher value to the farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by taking advantage of the domestic and export opportunities. Besides MSP, the committee will look at ways to promote natural farming, crop diversification, and micro irrigation scheme and suggest strategies for making Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and other Research and Development institutions as knowledge centres.

In the meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council chaired by Prime Minister Modi on Sunday, some Chief Ministers had raised the issue of MSP and the committee formed on it and demanded to reconsider the names of the members. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said that in the 29-member committee, 26 people are in favor of the government, while demanding the inclusion of independent members to consider the interests of the farmers.

Pertinently, so far only 26 members have joined the 29-member committee, while the names of three farmer representatives were sought from the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which split into two, however, both the factions decided to boycott the committee. Although it is said that many farmer organizations were willing to join the committee, but due to lack of consensus, they could not join.

It also includes names of big organizations like Rakesh Tikait's organization Bharatiya Kisan Union and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, which initially expressed their desire to join the committee but withdrew due to a lack of consensus in the Samyukta Kisan Morcha.