However, there is no mechanism to provide necessary documents to the farmers to enable them to sell at MSP and the farmers are forced to sell at lower prices
Close to 10 lakh farmers growing Tur in Gujarat are getting just half of the price set by the government, complained Gujarat Khedut Samaj. It said that in spite of announcing the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Tur of Rs1,090 per 20 kg.
However, there is no mechanism to provide necessary documents to the farmers to enable them to sell at MSP and the farmers are forced to sell at lower prices. Farmers have threatened that if the government fails to ensure MSP, they will have to resort to agitation.
The formalities to avail MSP involves farmers submitting their water-bills (paani patrak) at centres designated to sell the crop. However, most farmers have not got the bills from the talatis of villages and so they are not able to sell the crop at MSP. “Farmers are getting around Rs550 per 20 kg by selling to private traders as they are unable to sell at centres designated by the state government. To get the water-bills, they are running pillar to post in government offices but are not getting the bills, which is the reason that they are not benefiting from the MSPs,” said Sagar Rabari, general secretary of GKS. As such talatis of villages are supposed to provide water-bills or farmers can get them from Taluka Panchayats, but in most cases, farmers are not getting the bills from anywhere.
“At Modasa market in north Gujarat, farmers start pouring from early morning. But, as they don’t have water-bills, they are unable to get MSP. This seems to be a nexus between private traders and officials of market yards,” said Rabari.
Tur is a common crop of tribal districts of Arvalli, Banaskantha, Dahod and Panchmahal but is also grown in Bharuch and of late in some districts of Saurashtra.
WHAT DO THEY SAY
- At Modasa market in north Gujarat, farmers start pouring from early morning. But, as they don’t have water-bills, they are unable to get MSP. This seems to be a nexus between private traders and officials of market yards,” Sagar Rabari, general secretary of GKS, said.
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