Implement legally binding MSP, waive farm loans: House panel

Amid the ongoing farmers' protest, a parliamentary panel on Tuesday recommended that the government implement a legally binding minimum support price (MSP) for farm produce, as well as loan waivers for farmers and farm labourers.

The report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Food Processing headed by senior Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi came at the time when farmers are sitting on the protest at Shambu on Punjab-Haryana border, demanding legal guruantee of MSP.

Channi, former Chief Minister of Punjab, chairs the 30-member committee with 13 members from BJP.


Farmers sitting on the protest are mostly from Punjab.

The legal guarantee of MSP for agricultural produce was one of the key demands of protesting farmers in 2021, at borders of Delhi that forced the government to withdraw three farm laws and set up a committee on MSP to look into the matter.

Talking to ET, Channi said the report was adopted unanimously and with members across party lines in agreement. In the report the panel had argued that legal guruantee of MSP could significantly reduce farmer suicides and provide crucial financial stability. "The committee strongly recommends that the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare declare a roadmap for implementing MSP as a legal guarantee at the earliest," the report stated.