New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) The central government has “betrayed” farmers by not implementing the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, the Congress alleged on Wednesday and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise to the country for it.
In its 2006 report, National Commission on Farmers’ chairman M S Swaminathan suggested that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) fix MSP at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production (C2 plus 50 per cent).
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party takes decisions for the country and not for politics as he questioned criticism over the promise to give legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for various crops if the INDIA blocks comes to power.
By not implementing the Swaminathan Commission, the prime minister is “opposing” what he had recommended when he was the Gujarat chief minister, the opposition party said.
“Be it the BJP’s manifesto of 2014 or the recommendation of CM Modi’s committee, the Modi government betrayed the farmers on the guarantee of giving legal MSP,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged amid an ongoing stir by a section of farmers on the MSP and other issues.
“Prime Minister Modi should apologise to the country – for speaking a lie to the farmers, for going back after filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court, for not answering the question of MSP through RTI and for calling farmers terrorists and foreign agents,” he said at a press conference.
He countered the claim that the ‘Swaminathan Commission’ report was not implemented by the Congress, saying there were 201 recommendations out of which the UPA government had implemented 175.
Rahul Gandhi said, “Modi, his propaganda machinery and friendly media are the enemies of the poor and farmers. When it comes to the interests of those who built India, ‘government experts’ start worrying about the budget, but it is not about the budget, it is about the intention.”
He said the BJP is “silent on loans and tax waivers worth lakhs of crores of industrialist friends, silent on water, forests and land being gifted to them, silent on PSUs being sold at throwaway prices”, but their leaders pose several questions on the issue of guarantee of MSP to farmers, respect to householders and pension to Agniveers.
“History is witness to the fact that Congress has never shied away from taking big and revolutionary steps, he claimed, adding that be it the Green Revolution, bank nationalisation, creation of public sector or economic liberalisation, the party’s decisions have always laid the foundation for the future of the country.
“Today, providing MSP to every farmer is the need of the hour and this decision of the Congress will also prove to be a milestone. This will change the lives of crores of farmer families of the country including the rural economy.
“We take decisions not for politics, but for the country,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.
He also spoke with a farmer injured in police action during a protest march and accused the Modi government of having a “dictatorial attitude” towards the country’s food providers.
Hitting out at the Centre over the farmers’ protests, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked why it is “running away” from giving legal guarantee on MSP despite repeated promises and claimed the farmers have “lost faith” in the Modi government.
“In 2011, Narendra Modi, as Gujarat chief minister and chairman of a working group, had submitted a report to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which said that ‘In order to protect the interest of the farmers, we must ensure through legal provisions that no transaction between farmer and trader should be done below MSP’,” Ramesh said.
The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has three formulas to arrive at the cost of production: A2, A2+FL and C2.
A2 costs cover all paid-out expenses, both in cash and kind, incurred by farmers on seeds, fertilisers, chemicals, hired labour, fuel and irrigation, among others.
A2+FL covers actual paid-out costs plus an imputed value of unpaid family labour.
C2 costs are more comprehensive, accounting for the rentals and interest forgone on owned land and fixed capital assets respectively, on top of A2+FL.
“In many of his speeches and election rallies during the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Modi had promised that all crops would be purchased at MSP, which would cover all costs and 50 per cent margin as per the Swaminathan Committee formula.
“But till date, there is neither legal guarantee of MSP nor is it based on the Swaminathan formula of C2+50%,” Ramesh claimed. PTI
