Rythu Coolie Sangham urges Union government to announce MSP for agriculture products to protect farmers’ interests and livelihood

Rythu Coolie Sangham of Andhra Pradesh State secretary Dantuluri Varma showing association’s pamphlet at Komarthi of Srikakulam district.

Rythu Coolie Sangham of Andhra Pradesh, affiliated to All India Khet Mazdoor Kisan Sangh, on Monday urged the Union government to announce minimum support price for agriculture products since it assured to come out with a legislation to protect the interests of farming community. Speaking to The Hindu here on Monday, the association’s State secretary Dantuluri Varma said MSP was the need of the hour for farmers in Andhra Pradesh too in the backdrop of steep fall in prices of red chilli, tomatoes and other products in the last few months.

Mr. Varma said that the official announcement of MSP would act as a deterrent for middlemen who had been offering throwaway prices for farmers while selling the same products at abnormal rates in the open market. “The Union Agriculture minister Shivaraj Singh Chouhan’s deliberations with various association leaders were not fruitful in the absence of categorical assurance from the Union government. The government should be blamed for the failure of the talks as it was holding them without concrete proposals,”he said.

Mr. Varma said that the association’s State president Simhadri Jhansi, who is also co-convener of AIKMKS, and other national leaders would meet very soon to chalk out the action plan to achieve MSP for farm products. “Other sections of the society should also respond over the issues of farmers since they would provide food for everyone in the country. Unfortunately, 11,290 farmers and agriculture labourers ended lives in the last one year as they were unable to make their both ends meet. The farmers are unable to get back even the investment with the skyrocketing of prices of seeds and fertilizers. It is the high time their interests are protected. Otherwise, many more people will stop agriculture activity in near future,” said Mr.Varma.

He asked the State government to release more funds for the completion of pending projects such as Vamsadhara-phase-2, Jhanjavati and others so that the labourers would get livelihood opportunities when the farmers grow three crops in a year.