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Why the Farmers in India are Up in Revolt -Subin Dennis

-Newsclick.in

Forget 50 percent profit over the cost of production, the farmers were forced to sell their produce at well below the minimum support price and the cost of production, pushing them deeper into debt.

Farming turning increasingly unviable across vast swathes of India, and the Narendra Modi-led government not delivering on the BJP’s election promise to “make agriculture rewarding” lie behind the massive protests that have rocked several BJP-ruled states in the recent weeks.

In the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP vowed to ensure a prosperous future for the country’s peasantry. One major item in its manifesto was that steps would be taken to enhance the profitability of agriculture by ensuring a minimum of 50 per cent profit over the cost of production as recommended by the National Commission on Farmers headed by MS Swaminathan. In the same vein, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged last year to “double the income of farmers” by 2022.

However, the farmers were in for a rude awakening. While the promised remunerative prices for crops were nowhere to be seen, demonetisation dealt a heavy blow by crippling trade in agricultural commodities at a time of good harvests. As a result, the recent months saw colossal crashes in the prices of a large number of crops. Forget 50 percent profit over the cost of production, the farmers were forced to sell their produce at well below the minimum support price and the cost of production, pushing them deeper into debt. For example, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for moong for the Kharif 2016-17 season was Rs. 5225 per quintal, while the average price in Madhya Pradesh on 6 June 2017 was Rs 3677, almost 30 percent lower than the MSP.

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