Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday criticized the Center for not giving representation to the state in the committee constituted on Minimum Support Price. AAP leader and party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha alleged that the exclusion of Punjab from the Minimum Support Price (MSP) panel was “deliberate” and termed it an “insult” to the people of the state.
Mann in a tweet said, “I condemn that the Center has not given representation to Punjab in the panel on MSP as promised to the farmers…Punjab farmers are already stuck in crop rotation and debt. MSP is our legal right… Center should ensure representation of Punjab in MSP committee.”
Eight months after the central government promised to set up such a panel, a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP) has been constituted. According to the notification issued on Monday, the committee will look into ways of providing MSP to the farmers by making the system more effective and transparent.
Apart from MSP, the committee will look into ways to promote natural farming, crop diversification and micro irrigation schemes. Among others, senior members from agricultural universities, five secretaries to the central government and chief secretaries of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha are part of the panel.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmer unions, has announced that it will not be a part of the panel. Dismissing the committee, it alleged that “so-called farmer leaders” who have supported the now repealed agricultural laws are its members.
Objecting to the exclusion of Punjab institutions and state government representatives from the MSP committee, Chadha said, “Punjab, the central government has insulted our people. He claimed that the principles of federalism have been “violated” through non-representation of states, especially Punjab.
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