Congress rejects central government’s MSP for Kharif crops as ‘maximum suffering for producers’

The Indian National Congress has rejected the Minimum Support Price (MSP) announced by the Modi government for various Kharif crops. In a press conference held yesterday, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala criticized the government for failing to purchase crops even at a low MSP and accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having anti-farmer DNA. According to official data, of the 1302 lakh tons of paddy produced in 2022-23, the government purchased only 651.70 tons – half of the total – while only 17.59% of wheat was procured on MSP. Congress also accused the BJP of rejecting recommendations made by its own-ruled state governments for fixing MSPs for various crops, including paddy. Under the BJP‘s formula of input costs plus 50% profit, the MSP of paddy should be Rs 2867 per quintal, but the government announced only Rs 2183. Congress further criticized the Modi government for cutting the agriculture budget and not spending even the remaining amount on agriculture. The article calls on the Prime Minister to answer for his repeated betrayals of India‘s 62 crore farmers and accuses the BJP of dropping two crore farmers from the Kisan Samman Nidhi last year, noting that it is a unique case in the world. Congress also asked what happened to Prime Minister Modi‘s Rs 1 lakh crore agriculture infrastructure development fund announced three years ago.