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The BJP government raised the MSP (Minimum Support Price) to lure farmers to their side, before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However the farmers are unhappy with this decision. They believe that this won’t reap any benefits for them.
The government has increased the MSP on several crops along with paddy. It is believed that increasing the price will change the lives of farmers for the better, but will it?
Only Middlemen Reap Benefits of Hike in MSP
Paddy is the principal produce of Chandauli district of Uttar Pradesh. The famers of Chandauli claim that they will not benefit from the increase in MSP. It will actually be the middlemen who will be gaining from this. Farmers also allege that the procurement centres do not buy the harvest from them directly.
The increase in MSP is directly benefitting either the middlemen or the officers. But farmers don’t get any benefit. There is corruption in the local procurement centre. The middlemen pay money so their grain gets sold. The farmer stands in line for a week, to no avail. Ultimately, he sells his grain to the middleman for a small sum.Dharni Dhar Tiwari, Farmer
The procurement centres on the other hand justify their actions by citing a shortage of space to keep their grains and a constant fear of rains as the reason for not buying crops.
We had a target of buying 8,000 quintals. We bought 5,024 quintals. The reason for not buying the crops was that if it rained and the grains got wet, then who would be responsible? That’s why we are a little scared when buying.Ram Singh, Procurement Centre In-Charge, Dhanapur Sahukari Committee, Chandauli
Farmers say that along with the increase in MSP, the cost of production has also gone up.
The farmers should be asked about the benefits of the MSP increasing 1.5 times. The expenses of the farmers are more. The DAP has increased by Rs 50. The price of diesel starts from Rs 70. We cannot do farming without diesel. Labourers are asking for Rs 250 instead of Rs 150. The price of everything has doubled. The government is giving us Rs 200 in the name of increasing the MSP 1.5 times.Chandra Shekhar, Farmer
The farmers feel that the hike in MSP was a bait to trick them into voting for the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
(This article was originally published on Quint Hindi)
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