New Delhi: BJD Rajya Sabha MP Dr Sasmit Patra said if the Swaminathan Commission Report was actually implemented then the MSP would have been fixed at Rs 2340 per quintal. Dr Patra was delivering the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address in the Parliament on Friday.
Instead, the MSP was fixed in 2018-19 at Rs 1750 per quintal. This clearly proves that the Swaminathan Committee report has not been implemented in full by the Centre, the BJD MP said.
Dr Patra said the Biju Janata Dal strongly claims that the Swaminathan Commission Report has not been implemented by the Centre, but the Centre claims that it has done so.
The BJD MP said there are three components of cost of production of farming. First is A2 which deals with the out of pocket expenses of a farmer such as the seeds, fertilizers and pesticides.
The second component is A2 + FL which includes the cost of A2 and includes Family Labour (FL) i.e. the cost of the human labour that the farmer and his family contributes to the farming.
The third component is C2 which is the total of A2+FL as well as includes the opportunity cost of land, the interest for the loans taken by the farmer as well as the imputed rentals for the land.
Dr Patra said though the BJP friends here are more concerned in looking at MSP at a range of Rs 1800 to Rs 2000, the BJP MLAs of Odisha are more forthwith for the farmers. In 2018, there was a unanimous resolution passed in the Odisha Legislative Assembly where the BJD, BJP, Congress and Communist Party MLAs came together and demanded that the MSP for paddy be fixed at Rs 2930 per quintal.
Patra questioned if the BJP MLAs in Odisha can be so positive and demand Rs 2930 MSP on paddy per quintal then why are the BJP in the Parliament not willing to implement the Swaminathan Commission Report?
