Chandigarh, June 20, 2024 (Yes Punjab News)
On the slight increase in MSP of Kharif crops by the Central Government this year, the Aam Aadmi Party said that BJP is doing a drama of being farmer friendly. The party said that if the BJP is really concerned about the farmers of the country then it should make an MSP guarantee law as per the demand of the farmers.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Chandigarh on Thursday, AAP spokesperson Harsukhinder Singh Babbi Badal said that the cost of agriculture has increased by about 70 percent in the last several years and the Modi government is patting its own back by increasing the MSP by only 7 percent.
He said that the cabinet minister of the Modi government Piyush Goyal himself has said that 83 percent of crops are sold at prices lower than the MSP. Only 13 percent of crops are purchased at MSP. In many states, crops are not purchased at MSP. Therefore, this increase in MSP is ‘too little and too late’.
He said that farmers do not need a minor increase in MSP to get them out of the economic crisis. The farmers of the country can be prosperous only when they are paid the price of crops according to “C2 + 50%” as per the report of the Swaminathan Commission. Apart from this, farmers should be given separate financial incentives for crop diversification.
He said that the price of crops and policies related to agriculture should be prepared with the suggestions of farmers’ organizations. When the government brings any policy for the industry, it consults with Ambani-Adani and other industrialists, then why is there no discussion with the farmers before making any policy on agriculture?
Actually, the BJP government does not want the development of farmers. It only wants the development of some of its close capitalists.
It wants to give the fruits of the hard work of the farmers to its capitalist friends. He said that the BJP has been anti-farmer and pro-capitalist from the very beginning. This is clearly reflected in all its policies.
He said that during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and Prime Minister Modi had promised to double the income of farmers by 2022, but today instead of doubling the income of farmers, their suicides have doubled and the cost of agriculture has doubled. The price of petrol-diesel and other agricultural materials has doubled. The BJP should answer for this.
Babbi Badal attacked Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar and said that PM Modi and Sunil Jakhar are like a pair of Gappi and Khappi.
The Modi government makes dictatorial laws and Sunil Jakhar applauds them. Jakhar’s job is to just clap for every decision of the central government. After joining the BJP, he never raised any issue of the farmers of Punjab with the central government.
