Bonus on wheat may become political issue during LS polls
The Madhya Pradesh government has announced a bonus of Rs 125 per quintal to the farmers on the purchase of wheat in addition to the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2275. This year, farmers will get a price of Rs 2400 per quintal on government procurement of wheat in the state, whereas before the assembly elections, BJP had promised the farmers to increase the MSP of wheat to Rs 2700.
Ajeet Singh
The Madhya Pradesh government has announced a bonus of Rs 125 per quintal to the farmers on the purchase of wheat in addition to the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2275. This year, farmers will get a price of Rs 2400 per quintal on government procurement of wheat in the state, whereas before the assembly elections, BJP had promised the farmers to increase the MSP of wheat to Rs 2700.
Before Madhya Pradesh, the BJP government of Rajasthan has also announced a bonus of Rs 125 on wheat. In the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav on Monday, it was decided to give Rs 125 per quintal as bonus on the purchase of wheat. Cabinet Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya said that by giving additional bonus of Rs 125 on wheat, the expenditure will be around Rs 3850 crore this year.
Before the assembly elections, BJP in its manifesto had promised to increase the MSP of wheat to Rs 2700 and the MSP of paddy to Rs 3100 per quintal. Farmers of Haryana and Punjab are agitating for the legal guarantee of MSP. In such a situation, all eyes were on BJP ruled Rajasthan and Haryana. But after Rajasthan, now Madhya Pradesh government has also reneged on the election guarantee.
To ensure the promised wheat price of Rs 2700 per quintal, farmers had to pay a bonus of Rs 425 per quintal. Instead, only Rs 125 bonus has been given.
The Madhya Pradesh government has also started the registration process for wheat purchase. But there is resentment among the farmers over not getting the wheat rate of Rs 2700 as per the election promise. Farmer organizations were demanding from the state government to fix the price of wheat purchase at Rs 2700 per quintal.
Wheat prices in the open markets of Madhya Pradesh are between Rs 2,700 and Rs 3,000 per quintal. If the government does not give bonus then there is a possibility of wheat procurement being less than the target.
The decision of the BJP governments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to give a bonus of Rs 125 per quintal on government procurement of wheat will also put pressure on the BJP governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
In the year of Lok Sabha elections, if the government of the same party gives bonus in two states and does not give bonus in two adjacent states, then it can become a political issue. This will be a new issue for the agitating farmers and it may impact Punjab also.
