Punjab: Political parties, farm unions reject ‘meagre’ hike in MSP

Chandigarh/New Delhi, June 20

Political parties and farmer unions have rejected the MSP hike announced by the Centre for 14 crops last night, claiming that the hike is too little and not commensurate with the increase in input costs for agriculture.

Farmers disappointed

An overall 1.5% hike in the MSP for 14 crops is a fraud with farmers. The increase of Rs 117 for paddy, Rs 550 for tur, Rs 124 for moong and Rs 450 for black gram has again disappointed the farmers — Rakesh Tikait, BKU leader

No word on MSP guarantee

We are demanding legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) on crops and not a word has been spoken on it. For paddy, the hike in the MSP is just 5 per cent. — Jagjit Singh Dallewal, SKM (non-political) leader

The SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha too rejected the hike. Farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal said the meagre hike in the MSP on the crops was a fraud committed by the BJP-led Centre with farmers. “We are demanding a legal guarantee of the MSP on crops and not a word has been said about it. For paddy, the hike is just 5 per cent,” he said.

Rejecting the hike, they said farmers would give memoranda on July 8 to all MPs except BJP lawmakers, urging them to raise their issues, including a law on the MSP, in Parliament.

Meanwhile, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said farmers would hold a protest against the Haryana Police in Ambala on July 17 against the arrest of farmer activist Navdeep Singh. Navdeep was arrested in March during the ongoing farmers’ protest.

Gurnam Singh Charuni echoed similar sentiments, stating that the MSP hike was lower than the inflation rate and did not ensure the government’s procurement of the entire produce.

AAP and SAD too have rejected the MSP hike.