Kumari Selja said that the BJP government is bent on ruining the farmers.

Chandigarh, September 9 – President, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee, Kumari Selja said that the BJP government is bent on ruining the farmers. The recent increase in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Rabi crops is a profane joke with the farmers. The government has increased the MSP of wheat, gram and barley by only two to two-and-a-half percent. This year’s increase in the MSP of wheat is the lowest in the last 12 years.
In a statement issued here today, Kumari Selja said that on one hand, the BJP government talks about doubling the income of farmers, but on the other hand, the government is playing deceit with the farmers. The data shows that since 2017 the increase in the MSP of wheat has been decreasing continuously. This government has increased the MSP of wheat by Rs 110 per quintal in the year 2017, Rs 105 per quintal in 2018, Rs 85 per quintal in 2019, Rs 50 per quintal in 2020 and now by Rs 40 per quintal this year. This year, the MSP for wheat has been increased by only 2.03 percent, said Kumari Selja.
She said that at present, the rate of inflation is 5.9 percent and it is increasing continuously. The current agricultural cost has increased significantly. The MSP on wheat has been increased by only 2.03 percent. Similarly, the MSP on sunflower has increased by 2.14 percent, 2.19 percent on barley and 2.55 percent on gram. This is less than half the current inflation rate, she added.
Kumari Selja said that during the UPA government, the price of wheat used to increase by an average of 10 percent every year. In the year 2007, during the tenure of the UPA government, the MSP for wheat was increased by up to Rs 250 per quintal.
Kumari Selja said that during the tenure of the UPA government, there was an increase of 90 to 205 percent in the MSP for paddy, wheat, tur, gram, maize and lentil crops from 2006 to 2013. While, during the tenure of this BJP government, the prices of these crops have increased by only 40 to 70 percent. The MSP for paddy was increased by 61 per cent during the UPA government from 2004 to 2009 and by 38 per cent during the second term of the UPA government from 2009 to 2014. While, during the first term of the BJP government at the Center, the MSP of paddy increased by only 29 percent. Along with this, the MSP of cotton was increased by 42 percent in the first term of the UPA government from 2004 to 2009 and by 48 percent in the second term of the UPA government from 2009 to 2014. While, it has been increased by only 37 percent in the first tenure of BJP, she added.
Terming the increase in the MSP of sugarcane crop by the Haryana government as insignificant, Kumari Selja said that the BJP government has increased the MSP of sugarcane by only Rs 52 per quintal in the last seven years. From 2005 to 2014, there was a record breaking increase in the MSP of sugarcane from Rs 117 per quintal to Rs 310 per quintal under the Congress government. During the Congress government, the MSP was increased by Rs 193 per quintal. Had the government given the price of sugarcane crop according to the inflation rate, the price should have been more than Rs 400 per quintal, said Kumari Selja.
She said that neither the farmers are getting timely payment of their crop nor are they getting fair price for the crop whereas the cost to the farmers has increased manifold over the years. The prices of fertilizers, seeds, pesticides have increased during this government. Petrol and diesel prices are increasing unevenly, but there was a nominal increase in the prices of crops by the government.