Pointing out how a legislation offering a guarantee was not feasible, officials argued that value of agricultural produce in the country during FY20 was pegged at Rs 40 lakh crore, while the market value of the 24 crops that are part of MSP regime was estimated at Rs 10 lakh crore.
Procuring this value of produce from the Centre’s total expenditure of Rs 45 lakh crore (for 2023-24) would mean that there would be very little money left to pursue other development and social goals, which were critical for the progress of an economy such as India.
Officials said for next fiscal, govt has budgeted to spend Rs 11,11,111 crore on capex, largely to build roads and railways. “It (Rs 10 lakh crore) is more than the annual average expenditure on infrastructure in the last seven fiscal years (Rs 67 lakh crore, between 2016 and 2023). Clearly, a universal MSP demand does not make any economic or fiscal sense,” a source said.
Delhi Chalo 2.0: ‘We can’t move back unless our needs are met’, says farmers after centre meet
The argument, however, does not deter the Centre from any discussion around the demand provided farm groups participate in talks unlike their previous stand of not even sending their representatives to central committee discussing the issue, govt sources said.
On Tuesday, agriculture minister Arjun Munda pointed to the absence of farmers’ representatives in the discussions of a committee headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal. During the discussions, farmers were requested to be either part of the panel looking at strengthening the MSP system or join a new committee.
“Govt did not have any proposal…” Gen Secy of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Committee on farmers’ demands
Officials said other demands, such as free power, would push the country towards unsustainable farming practices, resulting in excessive use of underground water for water-guzzling crops.
“Unfortunate that Indian farmer is called anti-national” Gen Secy of Punjab Kisan Mazdoor Committee
