Govt says committee on MSP held 37 meetings, workshops so far

A committee on minimum support price was established in 2022 to look into the implementation of Swaminathan commission report. .File photo. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL

The committee on minimum support price (MSP) headed by former agriculture secretary Sanjay Agrawal has held 37 meetings and workshops so far, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda said on Tuesday in Lok Sabha.

The committee was established in July 2022, eight months after the government promised to set up such a panel while withdrawing the three contentious farm laws.

"Till date, thirty-seven meetings/workshops have been held by the committee," Mr. Munda said in his written reply to the Lok Sabha.

The committee is to make suggestions so as to make MSP more effective and transparent; to promote natural farming; and to change crop pattern keeping in mind the changing needs of the country, he said.

The meetings of the committee are being held on a regular basis actively to deliberate on the subject matters assigned to it, he added.

The minister was responding to a query on whether the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and 18 other farmers' unions have organized a 'Mahapanchayat' and staged protests demanding the enactment of a law guaranteeing MSP for crops and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report.