Paddy MSP Hike: Opposition Criticizes Centre for Rs 117 Paddy MSP Hike, BJP Responds | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: The opposition BJD and Congress on Thursday expressed disappointment with the Centre’s decision to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy from Rs 2,183 per quintal to Rs 2,300, terming the Rs 117 hike insignificant and inadequate. BJP hit back saying those who were in office earlier did nothing for the farmers.
“Farmers in Odisha and other states are dissatisfied over the Rs 117 hike, which is like peanuts for them.With the meagre hike, the farmers cannot even recover the harvest cost, let alone profit,” senior BJD MLA and deputy leader of opposition, Prasanna Acharya, said.
Responding to it, BJP’s Jharsuguda MLA Tankadhar Tripathy said, “The double-engine govt, involving the Centre and state, is committed to the welfare of farmers.”
The BJD has demanded compliance of the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee to fix the MSP for paddy. “I am surprised that despite the pro-farmer assurances given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recent election campaigns, only Rs 117 has been increased. The Centre did not even raise Rs 1,000. I do not think farmers are satisfied,” Acharya said.
Congress said the BJP reneged on its pre-poll commitments for farmers. “BJP made hollow promises. They had even claimed that their double-engine govt would increase paddy MSP to Rs 3,100 in Odisha,” Congress MLA C S Raazen Ekka said.
The BJP govt said farmers in Odisha would surely get Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy. “In the first cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Mohan Majhi on June 12, the proposal to buy paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal in Odisha has already been approved. The agriculture department has been asked to prepare the guidelines,” food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said.
Sources in the agriculture department said, if the govt pays the bonus of Rs 800 per quintal on the current MSP of Rs 2,300, it may cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 6,300 crore per annum. The estimated additional budgetary provision per year is based on the paddy procurement target set by the state govt for the 2023-24 kharif marketing season.
“Farmers in Odisha and other states are dissatisfied over the Rs 117 hike, which is like peanuts for them.With the meagre hike, the farmers cannot even recover the harvest cost, let alone profit,” senior BJD MLA and deputy leader of opposition, Prasanna Acharya, said.
Responding to it, BJP’s Jharsuguda MLA Tankadhar Tripathy said, “The double-engine govt, involving the Centre and state, is committed to the welfare of farmers.”
The BJD has demanded compliance of the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee to fix the MSP for paddy. “I am surprised that despite the pro-farmer assurances given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the recent election campaigns, only Rs 117 has been increased. The Centre did not even raise Rs 1,000. I do not think farmers are satisfied,” Acharya said.
Congress said the BJP reneged on its pre-poll commitments for farmers. “BJP made hollow promises. They had even claimed that their double-engine govt would increase paddy MSP to Rs 3,100 in Odisha,” Congress MLA C S Raazen Ekka said.
The BJP govt said farmers in Odisha would surely get Rs 3,100 per quintal for paddy. “In the first cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Mohan Majhi on June 12, the proposal to buy paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal in Odisha has already been approved. The agriculture department has been asked to prepare the guidelines,” food supplies and consumer welfare minister Krushna Chandra Patra said.
Sources in the agriculture department said, if the govt pays the bonus of Rs 800 per quintal on the current MSP of Rs 2,300, it may cost the state exchequer nearly Rs 6,300 crore per annum. The estimated additional budgetary provision per year is based on the paddy procurement target set by the state govt for the 2023-24 kharif marketing season.
We also published the following articles recently
Cabinet approves MSP for 14 Kharif crops
Union Cabinet approved Support Prices (MSP) for 14 Kharif season crops with significant increases in MSP for oilseeds, pulses, and other crops for marketing season 2024-25.
Union Cabinet approved Support Prices (MSP) for 14 Kharif season crops with significant increases in MSP for oilseeds, pulses, and other crops for marketing season 2024-25.
Record area under paddy is bad news for groundwater
Punjab’s record high paddy cultivation area of 32 lakh hectares is expected to exacerbate the depletion of groundwater reserves. The shift from cotton to paddy cultivation signals a concerning trend for water usage in the agrarian state.
Punjab’s record high paddy cultivation area of 32 lakh hectares is expected to exacerbate the depletion of groundwater reserves. The shift from cotton to paddy cultivation signals a concerning trend for water usage in the agrarian state.
