Parliamentary panel recommends ‘robust and legally binding’ MSP

A parliamentary panel on agriculture on Tuesday recommended that a “robust and legally binding” minimum support price regime be implemented in the country.

The Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing, headed by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi, also urged the Union government to introduce a scheme to waive the debts of farmers and farm labourers “in view of the rising farmers’ debt and suicides linked to farm distress”.

The minimum support price is a guaranteed amount paid to farmers when the government buys their produce. It is meant to act as a safety net, with the government directly buying a crop from farmers if the market price falls below the minimum support price it has set.

The Centre fixes a minimum support price for 23 agricultural commodities grown in the kharif and rabi seasons. However, it consistently purchases only rice and wheat for its food security schemes.

Although the government announces minimum support prices as a regular practice, it is not legally mandated to do so, and there is no law to enforce the prices. Thus, farmers are often forced to sell agricultural produce at rates below the minimum support prices.

Due to this, farmers have been protesting in recent years demanding a legal mandate for minimum support price and to ensure that...

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