Modi govt working on Swaminathan Comm's directions, UPA didn't: Tomar in LS

The Swaminathan Commission's report on agriculture reforms came during the UPA regime but it was the Narendra Modi government which started working on its recommendations and fixed the MSP at 50 per cent more than production cost, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said in Lok Sabha Tuesday.

Tomar said a committee, set up by the Centre following farmers' protest against three farm laws to examine various issues including minimum support price (MSP), has held 30 to 35 meetings so far.

"The recommendations of the committee are yet to come," he told Lok Sabha

The Union agriculture minister was replying to a query by the Congress' Leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury during the Question Hour. The Congress leader had asked if the Centre had taken any decision on the farmers' demand to make MSP a legal right.

In response to Chowdhury's question, Tomar said the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had set up the commission under MS Swaminathan but its report came in 2017 when Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was at the helm under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Manmohan Singh government then set up a group comprising then Union agriculture minister to consider the recommendations of the commission, Tomar said

He said the Swaminathan Commission had made 201 recommendations. Of them, the NDA government is working on 100 recommendations. "But, the main recommendation was on MSP. Swaminathan had said MSP should be declared by adding 50 per cent profit on the cost (production)."

"The UPA government was there till 2014. During the UPA regime, this recommendation (on MSP) was not considered After Narendra Modi came to the helm, work on the commission's recommendations began. Today, MSP is declared by adding 50 per cent profit on the cost of production," the Union Agriculture Minister told Lok Sabha.

The government spends Rs 2.28 lakh crore in purchases today, Tomar said, adding that there has been "continuous progress so far".