Farmers in India are back on the borders of Delhi again within a gap of three years. The last time they camped on the Delhi borders for almost thirteen months demanding withdrawal of three farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government. There was no immediate trigger this time unlike the last and long-stretched protest, but the issue of current protest has been the collective farmer’s concerns for long. The major demand this time is a ‘legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP)’ for almost all the crops.
The other demands include the implementation of Swaminathan formula for MSP, full debt waiver for the farmers and labourers and withdrawal of cases against farmers during 2020-21 protest.
That the farmers’ march of 2024 is different from the one of 2020-21 was clear from the day it became clear that farmers would meet their deadline of ‘Dilli Chalo’ for February 13. The battle-like barricading and wire-fencing of borders of Delhi from the nearing state of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh was a clear indication that the government was much prepared to hold the farmers’ entry into the national capital. While the government engaged in several rounds of inconclusive talks with farmers’ leaders by the end of second week of february, the borders became a literal combat zone as police engaged with farmers using rubber bullets and tear gas shells to quell the agitation leading to the death of a farmer on 16th february.
The current farmers protest is also different in a way that this is led by Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann unlike last time when no political party was ‘apparently’ allowed to be part of the negotiation nor the protest.
The protest initiated by the rice and wheat growing farmers of north India, as the MSP issue majorly impacts these farmers from states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, issues of implementation of Swaminathan Commission formula in MSP and pension for farm labourers covers almost every farmer while also reflecting upon the general state of agriculture in India.
The palpable anger in the farming community is the reflection of general agrarian woes and the demand for reform in the MSP system reflects years of neglect of the agrarian economy, which has seen declining real income and real wages.
Understanding legal guarantee for MSP
Almost every government of the world supports its farmers by guaranteeing with minimum support price to insulate farmers from price volatility through active intervention when the market price of the crop is lower than the MSP. This is also a simple mechanism to ensure price stability of essential agricultural commodities. The current issue is spearheaded by the farmers which majorly grow rice and wheat but the MSP issue impacts all the major 23 crops for which the government ensures MSP every year before the sowing season but hardly it is followed for most crops barring rice and wheat and few others. Even for these crops the market intervention by the government is not done to support the farmers but to fulfill its obligation under the National Food Security Act.
Without the legal guarantee for MSP, farmers in these states fear that they may not receive remunerative prices for their crops, especially when market prices fall below MSP. From the farmers’ perspective, an MSP safety net helps save them from market price fluctuations and uncertainties in agricultural production.
What is Swaminathan commission Recommendation for MSP
Renowned agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan, who was recently conferred upon the Bharat Ratna by the government was part of the National Commission on Farmers (NCF) which submitted a total of five reports between December 20024-2006. Based on these submissions, the government approved the National Policy for Farmers in 2007 with an aim to improve the economic viability of farming and increase the net income of farmers.
Out of 201 recommendations by the NCF the major recommendation was that the MSP should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production, which is one of the major demands of currently protesting farmers in Delhi. This is also known as the C2+50 percent formula, which includes the input cost of the capital and the rent on the land to give farmers 50 per cent of the returns.
The Narendra Modi government accepted 200 out of 201 recommendations and farmers are now demanding the implementation of all the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission including the C2+50 percent formula along with the legal guarantee for MSP on all the crops.
