Forget PR dazzle, tell us when will MSP increase: Rahul to Modi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to specify exactly when he was going to fulfil his promise of fixing the minimum support price for crops at 1.5 times the production cost.

In a tweet after Modi at an event here said confusion was being spread about the budget decision to fix the MSP for farmers, Gandhi took a dig at the Prime Minister asking him to "forget about the PR dazzle of government machinery in his speech" at Krishi Unnati Mela 2018.

"Modiji, can you please tell the farmers when will you increase the minimum support price to increase their profits by 50 per cent and thousands of farmers do not have to commit suicides? You have made this promise in 2014. Do you remember this promise?"

The Congress also accused the BJP-led NDA government of making hollow promises to farmers about doubling their income by 2022.

"The Congress notes with concern that having failed to deliver on their lofty promises, the BJP government is duping the farmers by making empty noises of doubling farm incomes by 2022," said the political resolution adopted at the party's two-day plenary here.

It also alleged that the crop insurance scheme of the government had benefited private insurance companies more than the farmers as money was taken away from the bank accounts of farmers without their consent.

It also expressed deep concern over the unprecedented agrarian crisis staring the country because of flawed and deliberate anti-farmer policies of the government.

"The anti-farmer mindset of the BJP stands exposed as agricultural growth under the NDA II (2014-18) as well as during NDA I (1998-2004), has fallen to half of growth levels achieved during the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government headed by Monmohan Singh."

The party resolved to bring in a farmer centric paradigm shift in Indian agriculture and restore profitability, taking a humanitarian and compassionate approach to enhance farmers' incomes, ensuring dignity to farmers, good education to their children, healthcare to their families and financial and social security through pensions to farmers and farm workers.

It also said that the party would bring a loan waiver scheme for all small and marginal farmers in the country on the pattern of the farm loan waiver programme of the UPA government in 2009 benefiting 3.2 crore farmers.

--IANS

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