Just hope will not do: India's farmers need much more than PM-Aasha

While the farmers view the PM-Aasha as old wine in new bottles, the state governments consider it financially burdensome

Belying the government’s expectations, its three-pronged mega plan to provide the steeply-hiked minimum support prices (MSPs) for crops has evoked a lukewarm response from both farmers and states. This is not surprising even though the government has given it an imaginatively chosen and hope-inspiring name of Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-Aasha) — meaning farmers’ income protection drive. Of the three mechanisms mooted under this umbrella agri-marketing package — the price support scheme, the price deficiency payment scheme, and the private procurement and stocking scheme — the first two are already being implemented in some states, benefiting only a