The borders around Delhi are likely to witness another showdown from Wednesday as protesting farmers rejected the government's proposal for a five-year contract to purchase maize, cotton and three types of pulses at the old minimum support price.
The announcement by the protesting farmers came hours after Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella organization of farmer unions that is not part of the current protests, also criticized the MSP proposal.
Addressing a press conference at the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher on Monday said the proposal is not acceptable to them and the protesting farmers will resume their march towards Delhi in a peaceful manner from Wednesday.
Explaining the reasons for rejection of the proposal, farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said in Hindi: “The government has made the proposal (Sunday evening) and we have studied it. It does not make sense that the MSP applies to only two or three crops and the other farmers are left to fend for themselves.”
“The Honorable Minister said yesterday that if the government guarantees MSP daals (split pulses), this will incur an additional burden of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. However, a study by Prakash Kammardi (former chairman of the Agricultural Price Commission) has revealed that the total cost for all crops will be Rs 1.75 lakh crore,” he added.
Mr Dallewal pointed out that the government is spending Rs 1.75 lakh crore on importing palm oil into the country, which he said is detrimental to the health of the people. He said the same amount could be spent on helping farmers grow oilseeds, for which MSP could be used. declared.
Mr Dallewal claimed that the government plans to give the support price only to farmers who opt for crop diversification and focus on growing crops under the MSP umbrella. This, he claimed, would not apply to farmers who are already growing the crops.
“This will not help the farmers. We have demanded MSP for 23 crops. The amount given is a 'minimum' support award, which helps with subsistence, not income. If they do not agree to a legal guarantee, it means that farmers will continue to suffer. We have therefore decided to reject the proposal,” he said.