Row over Rs 850/q MSP for paddy

NEW DELHI: The fixing of the new MSP for paddy has snowballed into a major political row with the opposition BJP and CPM, the UPA government’s main prop, charging the Centre with sacrificing farmers’ interests for protecting the fisc. On a day when finance minister P Chidambaram attempted to shift the blame for fixing the MSP for paddy at Rs 850 per quintal — Rs 150 less than what had been recommended by CACP — in BJP-run state governments, the BJP and CPM brandished letters from its chief ministers demanding Rs 1,000 per quintal for rice. The ‘kisan is getting a raw deal’ chorus is bad news for the government as it comes against the backdrop of growing anger and frustration in the countryside over the Centre’s inability to contain spiralling prices. The government’s latest decision was quickly projected by the Opposition and the Left as yet another evidence of intimidating the aam admi for saving the food subsidy bill. “The fertiliser crisis the world over points to rise in input cost for agriculture. The government is working against the interests of the farmers,” they said. The row erupted after the finance minister claimed that the BJP-led state governments had advised the Centre on a lower MSP for paddy. “This is contrary to facts. Gujarat is not a rice producing state. We procure 10% from mill owners. We collect rice from mill owners at Rs 1,300 per quintal. It is another instance of the politics of lies and charade that the UPA practices at the Centre,” Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi told ET here on Thursday evening. Chhatisgarh chief minister Raman Singh had written a letter last October on the issue. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Singh, whose state is one of the largest paddy-producing states, referred to the discrimination in MSPs fixed for paddy and wheat, and argued: ``Paddy is mainly a kharif crop, which suffers from pests and weeds. Moreover, in states such as Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, eastern UP and Bihar, it is cultivated in the rainfed or protective irrigated conditions with low productivity, which also adds to the higher cost of production. On the contrary, wheat is cultivated in irrigated areas and rich states, with less effects of weeds and pests.’’ Having made his point, the Chhatisgarh chief minister had urged the prime minister to enhance MSP for paddy to Rs 1,000 per quintal. Armed with the letter, the BJP accused the UPA government of telling `white lies,’ and doing grave `injustice’ with the farmers. To make matters worse for the UPA government, Punjab, another major paddy growing state, on Thursday demanded a MSP of Rs 1,300 per quintal on the ground that the cost of growing the crop worked out to Rs 910 per quintal. That the government had waded into troubled waters on the subject was also evident from the assertion by CPM, which extends outside support to the Manmohan Singh government, later in the day that the LDF government in Kerala was already dishing out an MSP of Rs 1,000 per quintal for paddy. The principal opposition party also picked loopholes in the finance minister’s argument that the BJP-ruled states had recommended a lower MSP. ``The mechanism is such that states do not have any role in fixing MSP. The CACP collects important data, such as the cost of production of various crops, from the states. On the basis of this information, it’s the CACP which comes out with the recommendation. In this case, the commission had recommended an MSP of Rs 1000 per quintal for paddy,’’ BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said. The BJP, which has been pitching for a higher MSP for paddy, is certain to use the issue to corner the Congress in election-bound states such as Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, as also the general election to be held next year. Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, another major paddy-growing state, are scheduled to be held simultaneously with the general election, and the opposition is certain use lower MSP to run the Congress down. The absence of remunerative prices will harm the food economy. The BJP said it would, if voted to power, implement the Swaminathan Commission’s formula of average input cost plus 50% as MSP.