“Sankalp Patra” does not meet the requests made by farmers

The main concerns and requests made by the farmers, such as guaranteed MSP in accordance with the recommendations of the Swaminathan committee and debt waivers, were not addressed in the BJP’s platform, or “Sankalp Patra,” for the Lok Sabha election.

Farmers nationwide have been agitated since the governing party, although promising to create agricultural infrastructure under the Krishi Infrastructure Mission, has not committed to guaranteeing the MSP for all crops. Furthermore, the BJP made no promises to provide farmers with any assistance in the form of agricultural loans.

The BJP has fallen short of several important pledges made in its previous manifestos, such as guaranteeing a minimum of 50% profits over production costs as promised in 2014, doubling farmers’ income by 2022, and establishing a pension plan for all small and marginal farmers to provide social security upon reaching 60. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, taking a jab at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked the PM to respond to his demands that farmers’ incomes be doubled and that the MSP be paid at least 50% of the cost of produce.

The BJP manifesto makes just one reference of the MSP: “We will continue to increase MSP from time to time, and we have ensured unprecedented increase in the MSP for major crops.”