MSP hike: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar, agriculture minister OP Dhankar term Centre's decision as 'historic'

Chandigarh: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday termed the Centre’s decision to increase the minimum support price (MSP) for kharif crops a “historic step”, while state Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar said a major recommendation of the Swaminathan Commission has been implemented. Addressing a group of farmers at his official residence in Chandigarh, Khattar said the BJP government at the Centre has fulfilled its promise of hiking the minimum support price to 1.5 times the production cost of farmers. [caption id=“attachment_4187493” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. PTI[/caption] Dhankar had accompanied the farmers to the chief minister’s residence. While dancing to the beats of drums at his residence, Dhankar hailed the MSP hike as historic. The chief minister said, “The decision taken by the Union Cabinet will help boost farmers’ income, mitigate rural distress and administer the farm sector a booster dose. It is for the first time since Independence that such massive hike in MSP has been effected by any government.” Khattar said while several recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission’s report had already been implemented, its key recommendation to give farmers 50 percent more rate than their cost of production too has been fulfilled now. “Today (Wednesday) is a golden day for farmers,” Khattar said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) at its meeting on Wednesday approved the MSP of 14 Kharif (summer-sown) crops. MSP for paddy was hiked by a steep Rs 200 per quintal. Dhankar said, “What is more satisfying is that now a formula has been adopted as per which farmers will get at least 50 percent more rate than their cost of production.” “With this decision, the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission have been fully implemented. This decision is historic. It will come as a big boost for farmers,” he said in Chandigarh. Haryana’s main opposition INLD’s state president Ashok Arora, however, condemned the “meagre increase” of the MSP and termed it “betrayal of the farmers”