MSP: Congress calls for MSP Guarantee Act for crops, says want to do.

Congress on Saturday called for legislation guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops, saying its goal is to ensure farmers are “debt-free”. Speaking at a press conference on the second day of the ongoing ‘Chintan Shibir’, senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also said that the party would vehemently oppose any move by the government to bring back the previously repealed three farm laws. .

Hooda, convener of the group discussing agriculture and farmers’ issues at the camp, said key issues before the committee included a law to guarantee MSP to farmers, the impact of climate change on agriculture, and the government’s “poor” implementation of crop insurance. Schemes and institutional loan investments.

There is also a proposal to call for the formation of a National Agricultural Debt Relief Commission to advise on ways to resolve farmers’ debt-related grievances through resolving and negotiating, as has been done in the case of industrial credit, Hooda said.

He said that as far as banking is concerned, agriculture should be considered as an industry.

“Our goal is to free the farmers from debt waiver. How do we do that? … Whether there should be legal guarantee in MSP. The consensus is that there should be legal guarantee for it. That is the demand. From all the Kisan Unions and as a farmer I also believe I hope it should be, “said Hooda.

He said the NDA government had promised to double the income of farmers, but instead doubled their debt.

Farmers’ debt which was Rs 9.64 lakh crore on March 31, 2014 is now Rs 16.8 lakh crore, he said, adding that the Center has not provided any relief to farmers.

He said the Congress-led state governments have from time to time waived off loans to farmers and alleviated their problems.

He said that MSP should be based on C-2 formula of Swaminathan Commission and it should be extended to all agricultural products.

Chhattisgarh Minister TS Singh also spoke of various farmer-friendly measures taken by the Congress government in the state.