MSP hike is just a ritual, says Sharad Yadav

New Delhi: The hike announced by the government in the minimum support price for many crops was “meaningless” without a robust procurement system and was just a ritual, former Union minister Sharad Yadav said Thursday.

Mr Yadav, who remained with the Grand Alliance in Bihar even as his party chief joined the NDA, said procurement agencies buy as much produce as they need under the public distribution system, and the government was not concerned about small and poor farmers.

He claimed that in the absence of a robust procurement system, farmers in states such as Bihar end up selling their produce below the MSP.

“This increase in the support price is not at all sufficient, and the farmers will not be able to meet the cost of production,” Mr Yadav said in a statement.

He quoted the report of a committee, headed by senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar which had once said that only six per cent of the farmers get the benefits of MSPs.