New Delhi, Sep 8 (FN Agency) The Congress on Wednesday said the hike in Minimum Support Price announced by the union government is an eyewash, and said that the hikes are minuscule compared to rising inflation. “This is cheating with the farmers of the country,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, adding that the hike was minuscule and not enough for the farmers suffering from rising fuel prices and other input costs. He referred to the earlier increase in FRP for Sugarcane from Rs 285 to Rs 290 per quintal, and said the hike was merely 1.75 per cent. The hike for wheat crop, he said was 2 per cent, being increased from Rs. 1975 per quintal to Rs. 2015 per quintal. Giving a chart of hikes in the MSP for different crops, Surjewala said the hike for sunflower was just by 2.14 per cent, Massur was 7.85 per cent, and mustard was 8.6 per cent.
“Modi government increased diesel prices, hiked the prices for pesticide, agricultural equipment, fertilisers, and tractors and imposed GST on it,” he said. “The input cost in farming has gone up to Rs. 25,000 per hectare, and the government has only given a hike between two to eight per cent in the MSP,” he said. The Centre on Wednesday hiked the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23 with the highest increase of Rs 400 per quintal for masur and mustard. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) for all mandated Rabi crops for Rabi Marketing Season (RMS) 2022-23 to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce, an official statement said.