On 13th February, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced that if his party comes to power, they will bring the MSP Guarantee Law and implement the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations. Calling it a historic announcement, Gandhi posed as “well-wisher of the farmers”. Interestingly, his party had rejected the Commission’s recommendations on Minimum Selling Price (MSP) in 2007.
किसान भाइयों आज ऐतिहासिक दिन है!
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 13, 2024
कांग्रेस ने हर किसान को फसल पर स्वामीनाथन कमीशन के अनुसार MSP की कानूनी गारंटी देने का फैसला लिया है।
यह कदम 15 करोड़ किसान परिवारों की समृद्धि सुनिश्चित कर उनका जीवन बदल देगा।
न्याय के पथ पर यह कांग्रेस की पहली गारंटी है।#KisaanNYAYGuarantee
OpIndia accessed Sansad documents from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, where the Congress government was asked about the possibilities of implementing recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.
In Rajya Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Javadekar, in 2010 (unstarred question 2299), asked the Minister of Agriculture if the government had accepted the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission regarding the calculation of MSP to be paid to farmers. Replying to him, then-Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture, KV Thomas, said that the Swaminathan Commission had recommended that the MSP be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production. “This recommendation, however, has not been accepted by the government because MSP is recommended by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) based on objective criteria and considering a variety of relevant factors. Hence, prescribing an increase of at least 50% cost may distort the market. A mechanical linkage between MSP and cost of production may be counterproductive in some cases,” he said.
In Lok Sabha, similar questions were asked by Ganesh Singh (unstarred question 97 dated 13th March 2012), Shruti Choudhary (unstarred question 1400 dated 21st August 2012), Pummasi Ram and Ram Singh Kaswan (unstarred question 2918 dated 11th December 2012), and Amarnath Pradhan and Kameshwar Baitha (unstarred question 2340 dated 12th March 2013). In all the cases, the Congress-led UPA government gave the same answer.
Recommendation of Swaminathan Commission and how the Modi government handled MSP
On 18th November 2004, the government of India formed the National Commission on Farmers, chaired by MS Swaminathan. The aim was to develop a sustainability system in farming and make it more profitable. The commission submitted five reports between December 2004 and October 2006. One of the recommendations of the MSP should be at least 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production. This recommendation was not incorporated in the National Policy for Farmers 2007.
Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Government of India continued to hold the previous government’s stand that implementing the recommendation would disrupt the market, it substantially increased the MSP of the crops over the years.
In a reply to RTI filed by OpIndia, it was revealed that the Government of India increased the MSP of wheat per quintal from Rs 1,350 in 2013-14 to Rs 2,015 in 2022-23. Similarly, in the case of wheat, MSP jumped from Rs 1,350 per quintal in 2013-14 to Rs 2,105 per quintal in 2022-23. Modi-led government ensured a significant increase in farmers’ income without causing any disruptive effect on the market.
