The previous UPA government had refused to provide 50 per cent profit on cost to farmers in the minimum support price for crops, as based on the formula suggested by the M S Swaminathan Commission, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said in Lok Sabha. The government is fully committed to farmers' welfare, he said during the Question Hour on July 30, 2024.
Answering a supplementary related to the farmers' protests of 2020-21, the minister said around 750 farmers lost their lives during the agitation. However, when asked if the government planned to provide jobs to the next of kin of those who lost their lives during the year-long protests at Delhi's borders against three contentious farm laws of the Centre, that have since been repealed.
The agriculture minister took the opportunity to allege that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had refused to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission that had suggested 50 per cent profit to farmers on their cost.
"The Swaminathan Commission report came in 2006 and it said 50 per cent profit on cost should be added for calculating the MSP for crops. Their government had denied it. I have documents. Their minister, Kantilal Bhuria, had said 50 per cent profit cannot be given. Sharad Pawar was the agriculture minister, he had also said it cannot be given," Chouhan said.
He placed a cabinet note of the erstwhile UPA government, led by Manmohan Singh, on the table of the House and said the Centre then had refused to accept the suggestions of the Swaminathan Commission, on the plea that a mechanical linkage between the MSP and the cost of production would distort the market.
At the same time, the minister asserted that the MSP for several crops has been increased by the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The Modi government has added 50 per cent profit in the MSP," he claimed.
