New Delhi, December 6
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in the Rajya Sabha today that the Modi government will purchase all crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The Agriculture Minister gave this assurance in response to a question during the question period on the issue of giving MSP to farmers. Chauhan told the House, “I want to assure the House that all the crops of the farmers will be purchased at the minimum support price. This is the Modi government and it is a guarantee to fulfill Modi’s guarantee.” Chouhan lashed out at the opposition, saying that when he was in power, he had said that he could not accept the recommendations of the MS Swaminathan Commission. In particular, the price cannot be 50 percent more than the cost of the crop. He also cited former Minister of State for Agriculture Kantilal Bhuria, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and KV Thomas in support of his claim. He also claimed that the Modi government is already giving remunerative prices to the farmers. Chauhan said that paddy, wheat, soybean, jowar are being bought at a price 50 percent higher than the cost of production since three years ago. When Congress member Jairam Ramesh asked his views on the MSP issue, Chauhan said that for him, ‘service to the farmer is like worshiping God’ but when the Congress was in power, the farmers were shedding tears of blood. -News-Patiala