The CPI-M on Thursday said the Central Government had made “fraudulent claims” that it had fulfilled its promise to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations by hiking the minimum support prices (MSPs) for paddy and other crops on Wednesday.
The Commission had recommended how the cost of production should be calculated and that the MSP should be fixed with a 50 per cent profit margin for farmers, the CPI-M said.
“In a cruel joke on farmers, burdened by high debt because of increasing costs of production, the Modi Government has deliberately used a measurement of costs which omits important aspects,” the party said.
Calculations of what the farmer should get according to the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and what the Modi Government has announced, shows a huge gap and losses to the farmers ranging from Rs 600 for paddy to between Rs 1800 and Rs 2000 for various pulses, groundnut and sugarcane, the CPI-M maintained.
“Further, there is no guarantee that the farmers will get even this price as the procurement operations of the central government are being deliberately cut forcing farmers to sell at distress prices,” the party said.
According to the CPI-M, the government decision was nothing but a desperate bid to deflect the growing discontent among farmers against the Modi Government in an election year. The CPI-M will “expose this fraud”, it said.