Farmers’ organisations have been lobbying to bring in guaranteed minimum support prices (MSPs) through private member bills. This strategy has gained traction among some MPs keen on keeping a hold on the rural vote. The ‘non-political’ breakaway of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Morcha, who have substantial support in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, have parleyed with several non-NDA MPs to move the needle during the upcoming budget session of parliament. A legislative guarantee for MSPs for 23 crops was the main demand raised at the farmers’ agitation earlier this year. A heavy-handed pushback from the administration forced the farmers to retreat. But with a new Lok Sabha elected with substantial opposition representation, they are hoping to resurrect their demand.
Private member bills rarely succeed in becoming laws, but they can cue in parliamentary debates on important public issues. The NDA government, which had an unfavourable showing in the recent elections in parts of the northern states where farmers had a significant presence, will have to keep the assembly elections coming up in Haryana and Maharashtra in mind. Turning a Nelson’s eye to the farmers’ demand may be difficult for the treasury benches.
After the Union government repealed the three farm laws in 2021, farmers’ unions began an agitation on a 12-point agenda, the principal being legislative guarantee for the Swaminathan Commission recommendations. The report focuses on raising the MSP to at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production, also known as the C2+50 formula. Farmers are underlining this demand again, highlighting in the clash between consumer interests and farmers’ demand for remunerative prices, the latter always loses out.
The government has implemented MSP for 23 farm products and consistently raised some of them; but there is no legislative guarantee. It comes as a recommendation from the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices that the Union cabinet approves. The government has been resisting an MSP law on the grounds that mandatory purchase would have serious monetary and inflationary implications. Procuring all produce at MSPs could also lead to overproduction, causing waste and storage problems. But a way out of the conundrum needs to be found. Farmers do not market their entire produce. Reimbursing through direct transfers those who sell below the MSP can be one of the options.
