The movement initiated from the Dudu district of Rajasthan in 2010 for the declaration of the minimum support price for procurement is a burning issue nationwide. Not only that, the Government of India’s institution – the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices, has recommended the creation of laws of this kind three times. Various committees and commissions formed by the Indian government have also made such recommendations.
The National Farmers Commission, chaired by Dr M.S. Swaminathan, is one such commission. Before this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, considered it imperative to create laws for the minimum support price for the purchase of farmers’ produce. At that time, he was the Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Committee of the country. In the interim budget of the second term, there is no discussion on this matter.
In this way, about 75% of the produce, such as paddy and sesame, is outside the purview of the procurement limit related to the minimum support price. While the restrictions on pulses such as lentils, pigeon peas, and black gram have been lifted, restrictions on the purchase of more than 25% of crops like moong, chickpeas, mustard, and peanuts still exist.
Despite the announcement on October 8 in a government program by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, regarding the termination of such restrictions. Consequently, due to the policy of purchasing coarse grains such as pearl millet, sorghum, maize, and finger millet, farmers are still deprived of the minimum support price. This situation arose when in 2023, the Indian government declared the International Year of Pulses.
The hope was that the interim budget would end discrimination and bias in the procurement policy to increase production and productivity. However, this situation has not given priority to the irrigation system in the budget. Farmers in the country are disappointed because there is no provision in the budget for making farmers prosperous by providing loans instead of taking loans.
Former National President of the BJP before the year 2014, as the Defense Minister of India, Rajnath Singh announced bringing a separate budget for agriculture throughout the country, but this announcement was not implemented.