CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC IAS

The Centre had proposed to buy three pulses, maize and cotton from farmers at the minimum support price for five years. However, the farmers’ groups reject Centre’s MSP proposal.

What was the proposal?

• The Centre had offered that cooperative societies such as the National Cooperative Consumers Federation and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India will buy pulses – arhar, tur and urad – and maize from the farmers at a minimum support price for the next five years.
• It also proposed that the Cotton Corporation of India will buy cotton crops at minimum support price.

What farmers are seeking?

• They are primarily seeking a law guaranteeing a minimum support price for agricultural commodities and the implementation of the MS Swaminathan Commission Report’s wider recommendations on farming in India.