A large number of farmers are continuously marching towards Delhi. This time MSP seems to be a big issue in their demands. However, if reports are to be believed, government sources have said that providing legal guarantee for the purchase of all crops at MSP could lead to financial disaster."text-align: justify;">Recently, Congress has promised to provide legal guarantee of MSP for farmers if the government is formed at the Centre. However, experts say that giving legal guarantee of MSP to farmers can ruin the economic health of the country. This amount of assistance can be so huge that nothing will be left for the rest of the development work of the country. This will derail the train of economic development and India’s dream of becoming the world’s third economic superpower will also be shattered.
According to reports, officials say that giving guarantee in agricultural law is not practical. He argues that the value of the country’s agricultural products in the financial year 2020 was Rs 40 lakh crore. Whereas the market value of 24 crops covered under the Minimum Support Price (MSP) scheme was only Rs 10 lakh crore. If the government has to buy all these crops, it will have to spend so much money out of its total expenditure (Rs 45 lakh crore for 2023-24) that very little money will be left for development and social welfare.
Expenditure on infrastructure increased
According to reports, officials have said that the government is going to increase the expenditure on infrastructure to Rs 11,11,111 crore in the next financial year. Especially for roads and railways. This is much more than the average infrastructure expenditure of the last seven years.
However, the report also says that the officials are not stopping the government from talking to the farmers. But farmer organizations should take part in the talks. Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda pointed out the absence of farmer representatives in the committee headed by former Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Aggarwal. He has appealed to the farmers to become a part of the panel to strengthen the MSP system or join a new committee.
