Farmers' Protest 2024: Congress promises MSP now, called it 'counter-productive' in 2010

Farmers clash with police at Haryana-Punjab border, security tightened.

As the farmers' Delhi Chalo protest entered its second day on February 14, the Congress asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise for "making false promises" on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops. However, in 2010, it was the Congress regime that had rejected the MS Swaminathan Commission's recommendations for remunerative prices.

A legal guarantee on the MSP has been a key demand of the farmers.

The then Congress regime had then rejected the MSP formula saying it will “distort the market” and be “counter-productive”. KV Thomas, the then  Minister of State for Agriculture, had told the Rajya Sabha in 2010 that the recommendation was not accepted by the government because "MSP is recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) based on objective criteria and considering a variety of relevant factors. Hence, prescribing an increase of at least 50% on cost may distort the market. A mechanical linkage between MSP and the cost of production may be counter-productive in some cases."

However, now the Congress seems to have made a U-turn. “We will not ask them (the government) for MSP now. We will fulfil that demand, and we have announced this,” said Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera. He was referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s promise to make MSP a legal right if the party returns to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

When asked about the earlier decision of the UPA regime, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told News18, “Prices have risen since then and farmers’ condition has worsened under this government. We need the report to be implemented now.”

What were the Swaminathan panel’s recommendations?

Chaired by Professor M S Swaminathan, the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was formed in 2004. It submitted five reports between 2004 and 2006, suggesting ways to enhance productivity and sustainability of the major farming systems in the country. Later the report came to be known as the Swaminathan report. One of the key recommendations was to raise the MSP to at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production.

What are farmers demanding?

Farmers are demanding a law that ensures MSP for all crops. They also want a complete debt waiver, a pension scheme for farmers and farm labourers, the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020, and the reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013, ensuring farmer consent and compensation at four times the collector rate.

 What was the NDA government stand?

In its 2018-19 Union Budget, the Centre had proposed to keep MSP at levels of one-and-a-half times the cost of production.

The government has increased MSPs for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and  commercial crops with a return of at least 50 percent of cost of production for the agricultural year 2018-19. “This decision of the government was a historic one as it fulfils the commitment to the farmers to provide 50 per cent return over all-India weighted average cost of production for the first time for all mandated crops,” the government recently informed Parliament.