New Delhi: Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) strongly condemns the Union Government’s latest assault on farmers by reducing the procurement price of wheat on the pretext of quality of grains. It is well known that the quality of crops suffered this season due to climate change and untimely rains. However, the government is now trying to penalise the farmers for this natural calamity by reducing the purchase price for grains through a value cut upto ₹ 31.87 per quintal.
The government’s decision to reduce the procurement price of wheat from the farmers on the pretext of quality is nothing but an excuse to cheat the farmers and deprive them of their rightful dues. Earlier, the Government used ceilings on quantity to reduce the procurement. Now the Government is trying to reduce the procurement under the excuse of quality, which is entirely unjustified. These anti-farmer policies are clearly a vendetta against the farmers for the historic farmers’ movement which led to the PM having to bow down before the will of people.
An MSP scheme to transform Indian agriculture
SKM demands that every grain of crop must be procured at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The SKM will not tolerate any reduction in procurement on the grounds of quality, as the quality variations due to climate change are not the farmers’ fault. SKM warns the Union Government to withdraw the circular on price-cut immediately and do full procurement at MSP as in the previous years.
SKM is giving a call for a nationwide protest on April 18 against this atrocious anti-farmer policy of the Union Government. If the Government fails to withdraw this circular, larger protests will follow.
The procurement and PDS from the Green Revolution period provided assured price incentives for rice, wheat and sugar (the flagships of the Green Revolution), but left out some 20 crops now under discussion for MSP including millets, coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds.
MSP could serve, in principle, three purposes — price stabilisation in the food grains market, income support to farmers, and also as a mechanism for coping with the indebtedness of farmers.