After Kisan Kranti Yatra, government decides to hike MSP on six rabi crops according to farmers' demand

A decision to hike the minimum support price (MSP) on six rabi crops, including wheat, has been taken following the Kisan Kranti Yatra that took place near Delhi on Tuesday. The proposal is set to be put forward to the Cabinet of Economic Affairs (CCEA) later in the evening, according to News18.

The move also comes months before the state Assembly elections, particularly in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh which have a significant farmers population.

#BREAKING -- Decision taken to hike MSP on Rabi crops | @maryashakil with more details pic.twitter.com/yBJ5qAx1vW

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 3, 2018

According to The Daily Pioneer , the Union Cabinet will consider the MSP of all five rabi crops and the recommendation is to increase them in the range of 2-21 percent from the last year’s MSPs.

The report states that government plans to raise the MSP of wheat by Rs 1,735 to Rs 1,840 per quintal, an increase of six percent. The price of chana is likely to be raised from Rs 4,400 to Rs 4,620 per quintal, an increase of five percent.

The announcement of the increase in the MSP of rabi crops is significant for the current season as the monsoon rainfall was 20% deficient in September leading to lower water levels.

The government in July hiked the MSP of kharif crops . The MSP of paddy was hiked by a record Rs 200 per quintal that will cost the exchequer over Rs 15,000 crore, and help fulfil its poll promise to give farmers 50 percent more rate than their cost of production.

On Tuesday, thousands of farmers marched towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, blocking traffic movement on arterial roads leading to the national capital. National highways leading to the capital were swamped with farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.

The Kisan Kranti Yatra, which began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on 23 September, was joined by farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh. They carried banners of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), which gave the call for the march to press for a series of demands.

Their list of demands include unconditional loan waiver for farmers, clearing of dues by sugar mills, higher prices for crops, free electricity for farms, to fix Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a cut in diesel prices.

The government had said that the fixation of MSP would be done in the future. “The government is silent on our demand for loan waiver, saying that the states had to take a decision at their level. Also, it said that fixation of MSP based on ‘C2’ input factor as per the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations will be done in future,” BKU General Secretary Yudhvir Singh told IANS.