BJP teased for not honouring promise to farmers

Alleging that farmers were being forced to resort to distress sale of wheat and pulses in a year of bumper harvest, the Opposition in both houses of Parliament on Thursday demanded loan waiver for farmers and reimposition of import duty on wheat.

The Government was also criticised for promising a loan waiver only in Uttar Pradesh during the election campaign.

The NDA Government was criticised for not fulfilling the promise of paying a Minimum Support Price (MSP) equivalent to one-and-a-half-times the cost to farmers for their crop. In its 2014 election manifesto, BJP had promised to ensure “a minimum of 50% profit to farmers over their cost of production.”

Sharad Yadav from Janata Dal (United) said farmers were being forced to do distress sale of wheat and pulses as zero-duty import had been allowed in a year of bumper harvest.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said the BJP came to the power on the promise of paying one-and-a-half times the cost as MSP but the farmers were being forced to sell their produce at less than MSP.

While MSP for wheat is ₹1,625 per quintal, the going rate in the market is only ₹1,550, he said. Similarly, against a MSP ranging between ₹4,527 to ₹4,850 per quintal for different pulses, the going rate is ₹3,400-3,500 per quintal.

On December 8 last year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced in Lok Sabha lowering of import duty on wheat from 10% to zero with immediate effect and without an end date. The immediate reason apparently was rise in domestic wheat prices and fear of a dip in buffer stocks, with the previous two years being drought years. Importantly, after the demonetisation decision of November 8, there were also concerns that the cash crunch would affect the farmers and thereby the output.

However, the Agriculture Ministry had estimated in August last year that the wheat output for 2015-16 would be at 93.5 million tonnes (mt), up from 86.53 mt in 2014-15. And, the estimates for the current year seems to have followed that trend in the backdrop of good monsoon.

With PTI inputs.