RahulsaysCongresspromises MSP to farmers

Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress would give a legal guarantee to every farmer that they would receive the minimum support price (MSP) for their crops as per the Swaminathan Commission, if the grand old party comes to power. Although the Congress was planning the promise of MSP to be part of its election manifesto. Addressing a Congress workers’ convention at Ambikpur in Chhattisgarh, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi said the party’s government would accept all the demands of the farmers, apart from a law guaranteeing MSP. Expressing distress and shock at the Narendra Modi government’s “betrayal and repression”, they said the Swaminathan committee recommendations would be implemented in full. While the protesting farmers want a law that guarantees MSP on every crop. However, global prices, pressure on the government for procurement, export competitiveness and central expenditure are some of the reasons why the BJP-led government is hesitating in agreeing to the needs of the farmers. Apart from MSP, farmers are demanding the passage of Swaminathan’s report. One of the main recommendations of the committee was to increase MSP to at least 50 per cent above the weighted average cost of production.