Punjab farmers reject 'mere' Rs 10 hike for paddy, cotton

Chandigarh, July 28 (UNI) The farmers organisations in Punjab have outrightly rejected the Rs ten hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy and cotton, saying that this increase was just symbolic and meaningless for the farmers facing severe financial crisis in the state.

The high input costs, accompanied by heavy indentedness, had led the farmers of Punjab to poverty and this ''mere hike of Rs 10'' would not yield any positive result, said various factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and other organisations like Khetibari te Kisan Vikas Front and Kirti Kisan Sabha here.

BKU (Lakhowal) president Manjit Singh Kadian has described this Rs 10 hike as ''a mere joke'' with the farmers who were facing considerable hike in the prices of agricultural inputs.

''It is very unfortunate that the country's food minister had announced a considerable hike in the MSP but the present announcement of Rs 10 hike is a cruel joke with us (farmers),'' he said in a statement issued here.

Khetibari te Kisan Vikas Front chief Gurdarshan Singh Khatra said the farmers were facing heavy losses with very low monetary returns for their produce, in the backdrop of multi-faceted problems like heavy indebtedness, no support and no market for the cash crops, heavy input costs and environmental degradation which mainly included drastic depletion in the groundwater level and other socio-economic crisis.

''The torch bearers of the country's green revolution are now committing suicides,'' he said.

BKU (Rajewal) general secretary Balbir Singh Rajewal pointed out that the Punjab government had a demanded 25 per cent hike in the MSP for paddy up to Rs 762 per quintal but the Centre declared it at Rs 610 only.

On the basis of the wholesale price index with 1967 as base year, Mr Rajewal said, the MSP becomes Rs 865 for paddy and Rs 3,750 for cotton.

The mere hike in MSP announced yesterday did not cover even the 20 per cent cost of diesel incurred, he said, while pointing out the heavy input costs.

The Union government had yesterday announced the hike in the MSP for common paddy and Grade A paddy for Kharif 2006-07 by Rs 10 each to Rs 580 and Rs 610 respectively.

The Centre had also raised the MSP of cotton (medium staple length) and cotton (long staple length) by Rs 10 each to Rs 1770 and Rs 1990, respectively.

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