HYDERABAD: Terming the Centre’s announcement that the minimum support price of farm produce will be fixed at 50 per cent higher than the cost of production as nothing but a hoax and a deceptive tactic to mislead farmers, the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee has alleged a huge mismatch between the budget speech and the actual allocations.The AIKSCC, a national coalition of 190 farmers’ organisations in the country, will launch a nationwide campaign to expose the government’s claim.
It will be organising a state-level convention in Hyderabad on February 15 to discuss the Kisan Mukti bills. The one-day convention will see the participation of AIKSCC convener VM Singh, Lok Sabha member Raju Shetty, Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj Abhiyan, Sunilam of Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, Madhya Pradesh. The issues will be taken up at the district and mandal levels in a campaign from February 12 to 19.
The leaders claim that an announcement on MSP, even if it is dubious, in Parliament is a victory for farmers. “The BJP has been indifferent to the farmers’ cause for four years: the Centre went back on its promise by filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court in February 2015, the agriculture minister’s statement in Parliament in July 2017, and the low MSPs declared in the last four years. The government made the latest announcement as it was under pressure and it is an achievement of farmer’s movement,” said Vemulapalli Venkatramaiah, president of All India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS).
Explaining how farmers were being misled, Kirankumar Vissa of Rythu Swarajya Vedika and member of AIKSCC’s national working group, said the government has changed the definition of ‘production cost’ by using a lower cost estimate (A2+FL) instead of the comprehensive production cost. According to Pasya Padma of Telangana Rashtra Rythu Sangham, the biggest increase in allocation has been of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from `9,000 crore to `13,000 crore but the scheme has benefited mainly insurance companies and the government has not revamped the scheme as demanded by farmers.
