Narendra Modi to address Kisan Kalyan rally in Punjab to mark MSP hike

Muktsar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday address a Kisan Kalyan rally in Punjab's Muktsar district in the wake of recent hike in Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Kharif crops.

"Tomorrow I would be visiting Punjab to address a Kisan Kalyan Rally in Malout, Muktsar district. Farmers from Punjab have an invaluable contribution in the growth of India's agriculture sector. I look forward to tomorrow's rally," the Prime Minister tweeted.

The rally will jointly be organised by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Malout. SAD chief Sukhbir Badal and other important leaders will attend the rally. The Central Government on July 4 approved the proposal to hike MSP by 50 per cent for 14 Kharif crops for the year 2018-19.

The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved the proposal made by Union Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget 2018 of hiking the support price by one-and-a-half times of the production cost for Kharif crops. MSP is referred to a price at which the government buys crops from the farmers, to protect agriculture producers from fall in farm prices.