Modi terms MSP hike 'historic'; ‘betrayal’, say farmers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday hailed the ‘historic’ hike of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for ‘kharif’ crops and said that it will enhance India’s agricultural transformation.

“We are honoured and humbled that we had the opportunity to take a decision on the historic increase of MSP, which will further enhance India’s agricultural transformation,” Modi tweeted.

However, the farmers of the country felt disappointed by the decision and said that they were betrayed by the ruling Modi government, which were voted to power as they had high hopes from them.

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) termed the Modi government’s decision to hike MSP for paddy by Rs 200 a "historical betrayal". The farmers union said that the Modi government was "hoodwinking" ahead of 2019 general elections.

"It actually is a historic betrayal of the promise made to farmers of fixing MSP at a level of at least 150 per cent of the C2 cost of production. Four years of the BJP government has passed without doing anything for farmers and they are now seeking to hoodwink farmers by making an aggressive campaign on the eve of the impending elections," the AIKS said in a statement.

Reacting to the BJP leaders’ hailing the move as ‘historic’, the organisation said, "The BJP government's tall claim that the decision on Kharif MSP is 'historic', falls flat when one compares the actual promise and the gap between A2+FL and C2 costs.”

The organisation alleged that there were "huge disparity" in the cost calculation by the Centre as the C2 cost of production didn’t include the farmers’ hard work and the rent of their land.