Even though only 40 per cent of potential beneficiaries have registered themselves under its ambitious pro-farmer Bhavantar Bhugtan Scheme, the Madhya Pradesh government has estimated that it will spend more than Rs 4,000 crore in compensating farmers who sell crops below the minimum support price (MSP).
Under the deficiency price payment scheme launched last week, the state government will compensate farmers by directly crediting the difference into their bank accounts.
Nearly 16.06 lakh farmers who grow soybean, urad, groundnut, maize, moong, tur, til (sesame) and ramtil (nigerseed) registered themselves under the pilot scheme between September 11 and October 15.
When the scheme was announced for kharif crops a few weeks after the farmers’ unrest in Mandsaur, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government had estimated that it will have to dole out between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 crore. But the prevailing prices in mandis (wholesale markets) have forced the government to double its estimate.
Given the scheme’s electoral impact, the government is tweaking norms to extend more benefits to farmers by ensuring that even those selling non-fair average quality (or non-FAQ) crops benefit from it. After December 31, the government will calculate the modal price for each of these crops by calculating the average prices in three states.
If the selling price is more than the modal price, the farmer will get the difference between the modal price and MSP. If the selling price is below the modal price, the farmer will be entitled to get only the difference between the modal price and MSP, irrespective of the actual selling price.
The state government on Tuesday clarified that even non-FAQ produce sold at mandis will be covered under the scheme. A senior Agriculture Department officer told The Indian Express that the government will have to battle the perception that it was doling out largesse for even sub-standard produce.
Earlier, the government had announced that yield will be calculated by taking an average of last five years’ yield in a particular district. Under the new formula, the three best yields in a particular agro-climatic zone will be taken into account and used for every district in that zone. Madhya Pradesh has 51 districts and 11 agro-climatic zones.
Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Rajesh Rajora said that despite MSP of Rs 5,400 per quintal, urad is fetching very low price in MP due to high supply at mandis. He said the government machinery is closely monitoring prevailing prices at mandis to check if there were abnormal variations. There were allegations that traders were manipulating prices to keep them low.
The state agriculture marketing federation on Tuesday served showcause notices on secretaries of Bhopal and Khilchipur mandis for laxity in implementation of the scheme. The officials were asked to give a written explanation within eight days.
Besides, 10 traders were served notices for buying produces at arbitrary rates at Bhopal and Khilchipur mandis.
