Nitin Gadkari reaffirms Modi govt's decision to hike MSP for crops

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari reaffirmed that the Modi government will hike the minimum support price (MSP) of crops and any report suggesting a decrease is false.

"The Union Cabinet, under PM Modi's leadership, decided to hike MSP for farmers... I have not made any statements about decreasing MSP, this has been falsely attributed to me. The government of India has always protected farmers and will continue doing so," said Nitin Gadkari.

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Cabinet's nod to MSP hike

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar earlier this month announced that the Union Cabinet has approved the increase in Minimum Support Price for 14 Kharif crops by 50-83%. Maintaining that the farmers were a priority for the Centre even during the nationwide lockdown, he revealed that they gave a bumper crop due to the thoughtful decisions taken by the government. He noted that the government had accepted the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission in 2018-19 itself by ensuring that farmers get a 50% profit on their produce.

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'A big relief for the farmers' 

Tomar also mentioned that the Cabinet had decided to extend the time for the farmers to repay their loans till August 31. If a farmer managed to repay the loan till August 31, only a 4% interest shall be applicable. According to him, this was a big relief for the farmers and recalled that subsidy worth Rs.28,000 had been given under this scheme in 2019. He added that more than 6.65 crore farmers are covered in the scheme. 

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Other govt measures in farm sector

On June 3, the cabinet approved the amendment made in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, removing items such as food grains, oil, dal, pulses, potato from its purview. The cabinet approved an ordinance to free the farmers from the constraints of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee, whereby the farmers would be able to sell their produce anywhere.

Along with it, the Cabinet also approved the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance in order to ensure that the farmers get greater freedom to engage with processors, wholesalers, large retailers, exporters while protecting their interests. These schemes had already been announced as part of the economic tranches rolled out by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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