The announcement the other day of Rs 20,000 crore being given to 9.2 crore farmers is yet another jhumla enacted by the BJP (NDA) government since if you take away the dhamaka of the Rs 20,000 crore figure, it works out to just about Rs 2,000 to each farmer. This is nothing but the old farmer support scheme enacted by the earlier government where Rs 2,000 is given in 3 instalments over the year every 4 months. Firstly, this is nothing new and secondly, it is a pittance to the farmers since it works out to Rs 500 each month. Are our farmers beggars to throw Rs 500 at them? The other decision that has come out related to farmers benefit is the hike in the MSP of paddy and other food grains like dal, etc. This is a welcome move since it directly benefits the farmer for his produce. For paddy, the hike of Rs 117 to a price of Rs 2,300 per quintal in the MSP is stated to be 50% over the cost of production. In any case any increase in prices of crops is good news for the farmers.
