National Kisan Mahapanchayat president Rampal Jat today alleged that in the absence of a law guaranteeing purchase at the minimum support price (MSP), farmers were helpless and being looted by traders as they were forced to sell their produce at prices lower than their cost.

“Despite the declared minimum support price of mustard being at Rs 5,650 per quintal, farmers have to sell it in the market at Rs 4200 per quintal, due to which farmers are getting prices as low as Rs 1450 per quintal”, Jat told reporters here.

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“Whereas there is no sign of the double engine government (of the BJP) starting the purchase of agricultural produce at minimum support price. An interesting fact is that when different parties are in power at the Centre and the State, they blame each other for not making purchases” he further blamed.

Last year too, farmers had to sell their mustard after incurring a loss of more than Rs 1000(per quintal), he added.

“On the other hand, 75 per cent of the produce at the minimum support price has been kept out of the scope of procurement. Despite the option of paying a low price, the government does not take any initiative. The government, which spends the country’s currency abroad on importing edible oil, is not ready to pay even the cost price of the produce to the farmers of its own country”, Jat accused.

The Centre has been continuously announcing in Parliament that farmers should not be forced to sell their produce at prices lower than the declared minimum support price, he stated. ”But the government is not serious about its promises regarding farmers. That is why the adage of eating elephant’s teeth and showing them is true, yet the government does not take any meaningful initiative towards bridging the gap between its words and deeds,” he pointed out.

On behalf of the farmers of the country, the Mahapanchayat urged the Central government to remove the stigma of farmer suicides from the country by enacting a law guaranteeing purchase at the minimum support price.” With this, the country will become prosperous and farmers will become capable of giving loans instead of standing in queues to ask for loans. Same is the situation with other crops like gram, moong and millet,” the farmer union organisation said.