Punjab: Farmers seek special allocation for MSP guarantee in Union budget

A day before Union budget, protesting farmer unions have demanded a special budgetary allocation to implement a legal guarantee for the minimum support price.

A day before the Union budget, protesting farmer unions have demanded a special budgetary allocation to implement a legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP).

The farmer unions, staging sit-ins at the Punjab and Haryana borders since last year, have been invited for talks with the Union government on February 14. (HT File)

The farmer unions, staging sit-ins at the Punjab and Haryana borders since last year, have been invited for talks with the Union government on February 14. However, they assert that discussions would be pointless without a budgetary provision for implementing the MSP guarantee.

Sarwan Singh Pandher, senior farmer leader and convener of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM), said: “If the Union government is serious about fulfilling the farmers’ demands, they should allocate funds for legalising MSP, as already estimated by CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics.”

Last year, CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics estimated that the cost of legalising MSP for the government would be approximately ₹21,000 crore for the agriculture marketing year 2023.

Pandher further demanded that budgetary allocations to the agriculture sector be based on the proportion of the population engaged in the rural economy. “Around 60-65% of the country’s population depends on agriculture and rural livelihoods, yet last year, the government slashed the agriculture budget to just 3% of the total Union budget, which is shameful,” he said.

The farmers under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha have been camping at Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13, 2024, after their march to Delhi was stopped by the security forces.