Chandigarh: Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MP Raghav Chadha introduced a Private Member's Bill to ensure implementation of the Minimum Support Price Guarantee Bill, 2022 which envisages guaranteed MSP to farmers for their crops.
The AAP leader said that the BJP-led Union government had promised a legal guarantee on MSP for agricultural produce during the farmers’ agitation last year. But now, the Union government has betrayed the promise made to farmers and is evading a legal guarantee of MSP.
“I represent Punjab and its farmers and will strongly raise their voice in the parliament. I have introduced a private member’s bill in the Rajya Sabha, which will coerce the government to hold a debate on the issue. I will fight for farmers’ rights till my last breath,” MP Chadha said.
Pointing out that the Union government should include experts and farmers from Punjab in the MSP committee, MP Chadha said that as recommended by previous government committees, experts and farmers’ unions, the calculations and process to determine MSP need to be revised and reformed.
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“There is a need to revise the A2+FL formula with the C2+ 50% of C2 formula as per recommendations of the M.S. Swaminathan Committee. Comprehensive Cost (C2) is the actual cost of production as it takes into account the rent and interest foregone on the land and machinery owned by farmers, in addition to the A2+FL rate. As per the Swaminathan Committee, the ideal formula to calculate the MSP should be: MSP = C2+ 50% of C2,” Chadha said in a statement.
He said that under the leadership of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, he is committed to protect the rights of farmers and will continue to raise pro-people issues in parliament.
Replying to the query, Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said, "A committee has been formed regarding diversification, natural farming and MSP". It includes farmer representatives, state government representatives and central government officials, he added. The committee will look into ways to strengthen the MSP system and how farmers can take benefit out of the support price mechanism, the minister noted. The government will consider the recommendations of the committee, he added. (With Agency Inputs)
