Amid ongoing farmer’s protest, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that the government is committed to farmers’ welfare and the MSP regime has undergone a “sea change” to assure price at least 1.5 times of production cost with the sharp increase in procurement of foodgrains and payment to farmers. In her budget speech for the next fiscal, she said the procurement of crops like paddy, wheat, pulses, and cotton has jumped manifold in the last six years.
“Our government is committed to the welfare of farmers. The MSP (minimum support price) regime has undergone a sea change to assure price that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities,” Sitharaman said. “The procurement has also continued to increase at a steady pace. This has resulted in an increase in payment to farmers substantially,” she said.
As the minister started highlighting the government’s initiatives and achievements in the agriculture sector, opposition members started demanding the repeal of three new farm laws. Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi borders for more than two months seeking repeal of three laws and a legal guarantee of the MSP.
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For paddy, Sitharaman said the amount paid in 2013-14 was Rs 63,928 crore. In 2019-20, this increased to Rs 1,41,930 crore. Even better in 2020-21, the minister said this is further estimated to increase to Rs 1,72,752 crore. The number of paddy farmers who benefitted increased from 1.2 crores in 2019-20 to 1.54 crore in 2020-21.
In pulses, Sitharaman said Rs 236 crore was paid to farmers in 2013-14. “In 2019-20, this was increased to Rs 8,285 crore. Now in 2020-21, it is at Rs 10,530 crore, more than 40 times increase from 2013-14.” Similarly, Rs 90 crore was paid in 2013-14 to cotton farmers while Rs 25,974 crore has been paid in 2020-21 as of January 27.
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