Modi govt ‘anti-farmer’, adequate procurement not taking place: Congress

PTI, Oct 19, 2024, 5:47 PM IST

The Congress on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi government of being “anti-farmer” and alleged that neither is adequate procurement being done nor are farmers getting fair price for their produce.

AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh, in a post of X, alleged that the policies of the “non-biological prime minister” have been anti-farmer since he assumed power in 2014.

“Neither is adequate procurement taking place nor are farmers getting fair prices, nor is there any legal guarantee of MSP (minimum support price),” Ramesh said, alleging that the “deception, fraud and cheating” done by this government with the farmers stand exposed.

Congress’ media coordinator Abhay Dubey alleged that the way the Modi government has “mistreated” farmers in the last 10 years, this has made it clear that “Narendra Modi is anti-farmer”.

“Our demand — farmers should get legal guarantee of MSP. The support price for soybean crops of farmers of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh should be fixed at least at Rs 6,000.

“If the support price for this crop is fixed at Rs 6,000, then the difference amount should also be deposited in the accounts of those farmers who have already sold their crop for less. PM Modi should consider the formality of declaring the support price,” Dubey told reporters.

He claimed that one of the first decisions taken by the Modi government after coming to power was that if the state government gives a bonus of Rs 150 to farmers on MSP on paddy and wheat, they will stop buying grains on MSP.

In the second decision, he said, the BJP government brought three ordinances to trample the law brought by the Congress government on fair compensation for farmers’ land. In the third decision, the Modi government gave an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying if farmers are given a support price of 50 per cent of the cost, the market would collapse, he said.

“Narendra Modi said in 2016 that the income of farmers will be doubled by 2022, but the income of farmers has remained at Rs 27 per day and the average debt on farmers has become Rs 74,000. Narendra Modi said in a rally that ‘we are bringing the world’s best crop insurance scheme’, but the result was that this scheme became a profit-making scheme for private companies,” he alleged.

Dubey claimed that a report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee has made a shocking revelation that the then agriculture minister Narendra Tomar was writing letters to Narendra Modi since 2017 to remove GST on agricultural equipment but the Modi government never took cognisance of it.

“Now the Modi government has announced the support price for the Rabi season but every time neither adequate procurement is done nor a fair price is given nor is there any legal guarantee of the support price. That means in the last 10 years, the Modi government has always beaten the farmers with sticks and hit them hard,” he said.

Another revelation has been made in what the BJP-ruled states had written and sent to the Commission for Agricultural Cost and Price, he said, claiming that states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand have made demands for higher support price for wheat but the prices which have been declared are much lower than their demands.