NEW DELHI: Underlining the current rural crisis, the government think tank NITI Aayog member Prof Ramesh Chand has today advocated for minimum support price (MSP) to the country's farmers to double their income. However, the government always encourages farmers to increase their income through market-linked prices instead of MSP.
“There are many states in the country like Uttar Pradesh, if MSP provided to farmers produce, their income doubles in no time while some states reach the saturation point of MSP as they are no longer required,” said Prof. Chand on the occasion of Farmers’ Day.
Punjab and Haryana are two states where a majority of farmers receive MSP of their produce. Underlining the importance of direct government support to farmers to bring them out of the clutches of poverty, Prof Chand advocated for state government interventions.
“There is no room for expansion in those states where farmers already receive MSP. The government needs to focus on other states like UP, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal to encourage farmers to produce more to double their income,” Prof Chand further said. He encouraged farmers to create more pressure on State governments to ensure better prices as agriculture is a state subject.
According to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey 2022-23, around 46% of the country's workforce livelihood depends on the agricultural sector. To ensure the inclusive expansion of the Indian economy, the agriculture sector needs to at least grow above 4%. States like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have shown agriculture growth of 6-7% which is better than even the manufacturing sector. Experts say better growth led to improvement in rural infra which would help in the expansion of MSP.
“Unlike Punjab and Haryana, other states have poor rural infrastructure like a lack of last mile connectivity to encourage farmers to bring their produce to rural mandi to sell it to the government,” said Ajay VirJakhar, ex-chairman of Punjab State Farmers and Farm Workers Commission.
“Punjab and Haryana have robust mandi infrastructure which smoothens the process of procurement while other states are lagging,” Jakhar further adds.
In 2020, the Union government brought three farm laws to enable farmers to depend more on the market instead of the government. After more than a year of protest by farmers, the government had finally withdrawn those laws.