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Questioning the feasibility of the demand made by farmers that a law be made on the Minimum Support Price (MSP), Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Friday said that farmers are being paid well for their crops under the BJP-led Centre and they received pensions for the first time since independence under BJP rule.
Speaking to reporters in Ranchi, the Jharkhand Governor said, "Farmers agitation is coming often from Punjab. We don't understand why. PM Modi is the first Prime Minister in the country to give pensions to farmers. He almost doubled the support price for so many products. So many crops are being paid for well. Procurement is high, but there is still demand. I do not know how feasible their (farmers) demand is." "They are saying the minimum support price should be ensured by a law. If everybody wants the minimum support price through a law, I don't know how it will be feasible," he added. Amid the standoff between the protesting farmers and the police forces, Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari on Friday said that the Centre should convene a special session of Parliament to bring legislation on the minimum support price (MSP) for crops, a key demand of protesting farmers. "In 2021, when the four black farm laws were withdrawn by the government, there was a commitment made to the farmers, that a law would be brought on MSP. It has been three years since then, and no law has been passed. I demand a special session of the Parliament be summoned immediately, and a law guaranteeing the MSP to farmers on crops across the board should be passed," Tewari said. He further said that the Punjab government should give the status of 'Shaheed' to Shubhkaran Singh, who died of an injury to the back of his neck while protesting at the Khanauri border on Wednesday, prompting farm leaders to suspend talks with the Centre. To press the Centre to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and a farm debt waiver, the farmers have been camping at the border points since February 13 along with their tractor-trolleys, mini-vans, and pickup trucks. However, during the last round of talks, which ended past midnight on February 18, the panel of three Union ministers proposed buying five crops--moong dal, urad dal, tur dal, maize and cotton--from farmers at MSP for five years through central agencies. (ANI)
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