BKS to hold rally to seek profitable price for farm produce

The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the farmers' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, will hold a rally in the national capital on December 19 to protest against increasing input costs in agriculture which it says has worsened the plight of Indian farmers.

The BKS wants the Centre to guarantee profitable prices for crops grown by small farmers.

"If a farmer is buying everything he needs at MRP (maximum retail price), why should he sell his produce on MSP (minimum support price? He should get a profitable price," Mohini Mohan Mishra, all-India secretary of the BKS, told ET. "The government should create a system for that. We think the MSP is a flawed concept. Producers get input credit in the GST system. Farmers are producers. They should get that too. Either you make the input share in GST zero or you ensure farmers get a profitable price for their produce."


The plan to hold a rally comes at a time when the Centre had appointed a committee to look into MSP-related issues of farmers. Two meetings of the expert members have been convened till now.

Mishra said fertiliser subsidies should be sent to farmers directly to their bank accounts through direct benefit transfer. "Nearly Rs 2 lakh crore subsidy is given to companies in the name of fertiliser subsidy. We want farmers to benefit from that. Why should those who are not purchasing fertiliser avail the subsidy," said Mishra.