Agriculture experts said that during Congress' rule, market price were remunerative and so MSP was not needed.
The government spend on Minimum Support Price (MSP) over the past three years was Rs 2,600 crore as against the Rs 1,200 crore during the 25-year-rule of the Congress party, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani calimed on Tuesday. However, agriculture experts said that during Congress' rule, market price were remunerative and so MSP was not needed. They added that the market prices were subdued during the BJP rule and therefore the government had to intervene to control agrarian distress.
Rupani also said that never before in the history of Gujarat, groundnut farmers got Rs 1,000 per 20 kg. The CM made these statements while launching the Gujarati version of the party's manifesto at 'Kamalam' state BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar. "We paid a premium of Rs 1,400 crore, against that the farmers' claims worth Rs 2,600 crore have been settled. This is the highest ever in the state. Claims have been settled in most talukas. There may be isolated cases where claims are yet to be settled," said Rupani.
He also said groundnut farmers got an MSP of Rs 1,000 per 20 kg which was unprecedented. According to him, the state government had also given farmers an input subsidy of Rs 13,000 in addition to the Rs 6,000 promised by the central government. Rupani added that the central and state governments were taking steps to ensure doubling of farmers' income by 2022.
However, Sagar Rabari, founder and president of Gujarat Khedut Ekta Samiti said that prices in open market were not remunerative necessitating higher MSP spend in the past three years. "Earlier Indian agricultural products were exported. That pushed up prices. Now we import many of agricultural produce. This decreases market price. Naturally, the government has to spend more on MSP. In fact this reveals the government's failure," Rabari told DNA.
He also denied Rupani's claim that Rs 1,000 for 20 kg of groundnuts was the highest ever MSP in Gujarat. "Previously, prices in open market were as high as Rs 1,100 per 20 kg. So the claims of CM are unfounded. There are a number of talukas where just about six per cent of claims have been settled. How is it possible if government has declared them scarcity-hit," said Rabari.
He said that it was unfair to compare insurance settlement with premium paid. In fact actual settlement should be compared with claims of settlement. "You may be paying Rs 1,000 as vehicle insurance. The vehicle is damaged and you put claims worth Rs 10,000. If the insurance pays Rs 2,000, it cannot say that claimant has got Rs 2,000 against the premium of Rs 1,000," he said.
CM CLAIM REFUTED
- CM claimed that over the past three years, MSP spend was Rs 2,600 crore as against the Rs 1,200 crore during the 25-year-rule of the Congress party
- Agriculture experts said that during Cong’ rule, market price were remunerative and so MSP was not needed.
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