Amarinder Singh slams NDA on Rs 50 'meager' hike in MSP of wheat

Chandigarh: Accusing the NDA of being "insensitive" towards the plight of farmers, Congress leader Capt Amarinder Singh today slammed the Centre for a "meager" hike of Rs 50 in the minimum support price of wheat.

Rejecting the hike, the Congress Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha said, "We have time and again maintained that the NDA government has been insensitive towards farmers plight and we have been proved right".

He said, the comparative figures of last 16 years, 10 years of UPA and 6 years of NDA preceding that, stand testimony to the fact that the Congress-led UPA has always done better than the BJP-led NDA.

While the average cumulative increase in the paddy and wheat MSP during the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre was about Rs 70 per year, it was only Rs 11 during the BJP-led NDA government between 1998 and 2004, Amarinder said.

He said, the UPA had increased the MSP of wheat by Rs 710 and paddy by Rs 750 in ten years. During the 6 years rule of NDA, the MSP of wheat was raised by just Rs 80 and paddy by Rs 70 only.

The Centre had yesterday raised the minimum support price for wheat by a nominal Rs 50 to 1,450 a quintal to encourage farmers to cover more area under the crop in the ongoing rabi season.