Punjab CM Amarinder Singh rejects hike in MSP

Politicians and farm leaders of Punjab and Haryana have unanimously rejected the hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of rabi crops announced ahead of schedule by the centre amid huge unrest over the proposed farm laws.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday rejected the Centre's “paltry” hike in MSP of wheat and five other Rabi crops as a "cruel joke" on farmers.

He said the "paltry" hike has come amid their growing apprehensions about the abolition of the minimum support price regime following the passage of the new agriculture Bills in Parliament.

"This is callous. They have made a mockery of the farmers' protests over the farm bills, which by all accounts will eventually pave the way for ending the MSP system and abolish the Food Corporation of India," said the CM in a statement here.

The farmers have been asking for a written guarantee that the MSP will not be tampered with, but instead, the Centre has handed out to them a measly offering, said the Chief Minister, adding that this once again showed how little the BJP and its allies, including the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), knew about the farmers and their problems.

The Chief Minister also regretted that the Centre had once again failed to announce a bonus of Rs 100 per quintal for paddy straw management to incentivise farmers not to burn it.

Upping the ante on the farm bills issue, the Congress on Monday announced a massive people's movement which would include protest marches, agitations and collecting two crore farmers' signatures for a memorandum against the legislations to be submitted to President Ram Nath Kovind.

This was decided at a meeting of Congress general secretaries and state in-charges, the first physical meeting held by the party at its 24 Akbar Road headquarters here since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Sunday, the Rajya Sabha passed two ordinances announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in June.

Farmers and farm leaders have expressed grave concerns over the first Bill, which they claim is a roundabout way to eliminate procurement of wheat and paddy under the minimum support price (MSP) programme.

Last year, farmers in Punjab and Haryana had sold wheat and paddy worth over Rs 80,000 crore under Food Corporation of India (FCI).

The protests by farmers also led Shiromani Akali Dal leader and Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal to resign from the Cabinet.

Meanwhile, hundreds of farmers, labourers and members of Dalit organisations Monday took part in a demonstration at Bengaluru’s Anand Rao Circle against the new farm Bills passed by the Centre and land legislations proposed by the Karnataka government.

The protesters then moved to Freedom Park, where a conference was held on these issues.

Also, In Bihar's Bhojpur, the farmers came out on the road alleging that the Agricultural Bill was brought to the disadvantage of the farmers. Angry farmers blocked NH-30 in protest against this bill of the central government. Farmers are protesting and shouting slogans against the central government. The lead advocate is Vinod Verma.