E-Paper
But Modi govt silent on Swaminathan's MSP formula: Jairam Ramesh on Bharat Ratna
Modi government is, however, silent on implementing MS Swaminathan's MSP formula for the farmers, Jairam Ramesh said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said while the Modi government announced Bharat Ratna for scientists MS Swaminathan, the government is silent on implementing the Swaminathan formula on minimum support price (MSP) for the farmers. Because of the Modi government's stubbornness, 700 farmers were martyred during their movement but the government betrayed them. "Even today farmers are ready to march to Delhi but the government is not listening," Jairam Ramesh wrote on X after three Bharat Ratna awards were announced for Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao and MS Swaminathan.
Justice to farmers is a true tribute to Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan, Jairam Ramesh said linking it to the objective of the Congress's ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. "Providing justice to farmers is one of the main objectives of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Our demand for 'Kisan Nyay' is that farmers should be given a legal guarantee of giving minimum support price on the basis of Swaminathan formula. This will be a true tribute to former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh ji and Swaminathan ji," Jairam Ramesh said.
MS Swaminathan's daughter Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist of the World Health Organization, said MS Swaminathan would have been happy had the news come during his lifetime. "He never worked for awards. A lot of recognition came to him. He was motivated more by the results of what he did on the ground, and people's love and affection," Soumya said.
MS Swaminathan died on September 28, 2023.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge issued an official statement welcoming the Bharat Ratna to Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan.
Both MS Swaminathan and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh worked extensively for the farmers who are still fighting for their demands -- an issue that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav broached in the UP Assembly on Friday. "A farmer leader (Chaudhary Charan Singh) has got Bharat Ratna. Yesterday, there was some other news. I want to congratulate all farmers," Akhilesh Yadav said.
Farmers from Noida, Greater Noida laid a siege to the Delhi-Noida border on Thursday. They were stopped at the border and their march to Parliament was stopped. On Friday, the farmers protested outside the offices of local authorities in Noida and Greater Noida.
Punjab farmers, on the other hand, called for a Delhi March on February 13 following which Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Nityananda Rai and Arjun Munda met farmers leaders in Chandigarh on Thursday. "An agreement was reached over a lot of demands. These included the withdrawal of cases filed against farmers during an earlier agitation. There is scope for another meeting as well. Farmer organisations, too, said that they would hold discussions with each other," Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said.
