New Delhi: Former Haryana Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that agriculture and farmers are in trouble all over the country today as the BJP had promised to double the income of the farmers by 2022, but instead of increasing the income of the farmers, it has increased input cost and debt manifold.
Addressing a press conference regarding the condition of agriculture and farmers in the country, Hooda said the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) is proving beneficial for the insurance companies instead of the farmers. “Farmers keep waiting for compensation at the time of crop failure and companies reap huge profits. Farmers have not yet received compensation for the damage caused by the unseasonal rains in Haryana. Till now, through this scheme, insurance companies have earned a profit of Rs 40,000 crores in the country,” he said.
Hooda said that in the Raipur convention of the Congress, the party had taken a resolution that after the formation of the Congress government, PMFBY would be given a new look by removing all the shortcomings. “The insurance scheme will be operated by public sector companies, which will work on the principle of ‘no-profit, no-loss’ and provisions would be made to create a revolving fund. Along with this, its benefit will also be given to the landless agricultural laborers,” he stated.
The former Haryana Chief Minister said today farmers are neither getting compensation nor MSP. He said farmers have to sell their mustard and wheat at a rate lower than the MSP in this season and he himself visited the mandis and knew the pain of the farmers.
“In the budget of 2018-19, the government had announced TOP (Tomato, Onion and Potato) scheme to benefit the farmers who grow vegetables like tomato, onion and potato, but today the tomatoes of the farmers of Madhya Pradesh, the onions of the farmers of Maharashtra and the potatoes of the farmers of Haryana are bringing only grief to the farmers. Farmers in Punjab are forced to throw their capsicum on the roads because prices have crashed to Re 1 per kg ,” he said.
He recounted that recently, when he himself visited the market of Kurukshetra, the farmers told him that today his potato is being beaten at the rate of 50 paise per kg. While the cost of growing it is ₹ 5-6 per kg. Similarly today mustard farmers are also not getting MSP. The farmer is forced to sell his crop at a rate 1000-1500 rupees less than the MSP.
“Same is the condition of wheat. Due to unseasonal rains from above, it has been decided to impose a huge value cut in the rate of wheat from government procurement agencies on luster loss, while the government should bear this value cut itself and farmers should be given bonus up to Rs.500 per quintal,” he stated.
Hooda said that the BJP came to power by promising to give MSP to the farmers on the C2 formula of the Swaminathan Commission. “At the time of the farmer’s movement, the government had formed a committee for the legal guarantee of MSP, today there is no trace of the committee. The truth is that in the matter of giving MSP to the farmers, the present government does not stand anywhere close to the Congress,” he stated.
He said that during the tenure of the present government, the MSP of paddy has increased only by 6% annually, whereas during the Congress tenure there was an increase of 12.6 percent. “Similarly, today the MSP of wheat is increasing by 5.5 percent annually, whereas during the Congress government this increase was 12.2 percent. Arhar’s rate was increased by only 5.8 percent by the present government and 21.6 percent by the Congress and Moong by 5.8 percent by the BJP government and 22.8 percent by the Congress government annually. The condition of the farmers is so bad that today the farmer is earning only Rs.27 per day,” he stated.
Hooda said that in order to improve the condition of farmers, Congress will give them MSP with legal guarantee under C2 formula of Swaminathan Commission. “Congress believes that the scope of MSP should be further increased and applied to other crops as well. From ginger, garlic, turmeric, chili to horticulture, all agricultural products should get guaranteed price,” he stated.
The former Haryana Chief Minister and farmer leader expressed deep concern over the alarming increase in the debt burden on the farmers. “During the BJP government, the total outstanding loan on farmers has increased to ₹23.44 lakh crore in 2021-22, from ₹9.64 lakh crore as on March 31, 2014. The UPA government implemented a ₹72,000 crore loan waiver scheme for farmers in 2007. Congress state governments are constantly working towards getting the farmers debt free, but the BJP government is continuously increasing the cost of farmers by imposing taxes on petrol-diesel, fertilizers, seeds, medicines and farming equipment,” he stated.
Hooda also pointed out that the BJP government has failed to fulfill its promise of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 and that the budget related to agriculture is also being cut continuously. “The budget of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana was reduced from ₹68,000 crore to ₹60,000 crore. Similarly, the allocation for PM Fasal Bima Yojana has been reduced from Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 13,625 crore this year. The food subsidy received by FCI was reduced from 2.14 lakh crore to 1.37 lakh crore. Food subsidy under the Food Security Act has been reduced from 72,000 crores to 59,793 crores. The budget of MNREGA has been reduced from 73,000 crores to 60,000 crores,” he stated.
