On Wednesday (10th April), the Congress party courted controversy after the Head of its ‘Data Analytics Department’ Praveen Chakravarty was seen backtracking on the party’s pre-poll promise about Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farmers.
During an interview with ‘journalist’ Karan Thapar of The Wire, Chakravarty was quizzed about the Congress’ assurance to fulfil the demands made by the ‘protesting farmers.’
The demands included a guarantee of procurement of all 23 crops at MSP using the highly cited ‘C2+50% Formula’ (1.5 times the input costs of farmers). Praveen Chakravarty vehemently denied making any such promises in the manifesto.
He also failed to name specific crops that the Congress party plans to procure at MSP if it is elected to power.
Praveen Chakravarty refused to acknowledge the calculation of the Minimum Support Price as 1.5 times the farmers’ input cost, despite Rahul Gandhi vowing to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission (which cites C2+50% as the formulae for MSP).
He conveniently sought refuge in the Congress manifesto (Page 17), which does not divulge the party’s plan to ensure a legal guarantee for the MSP. Page 17 of the manifesto [pdf] says,”Congress will give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the government every year, as recommended by the Swaminathan commission.“
On being told by Karan Thapar that implementing MSP for all 23 crops could lead to 25-30% increase in food inflation, the Head of Congress’ Data Analytics Department said, “That’s hypothetical because there is no mention of the word 23 crops, no mention of the formula, no mention of any of that.”
At this point, The Wire ‘journalist’ inquired, “How many crops will be covered by your legally guaranteed MSP if not 23?” Praveen Chakravarty did not have any answer. He therefore claimed, “Those are a matter of detail.”
Thapar reminded me of the demands made by the ‘protesting farmers’ and the party’s indecisiveness over the number of crops to be covered by MSP. “The farmers wanted legal guarantee, there will be a legal guarantee. What will be the crops, what will be the formula, what are the new crops to be included, what are the old crops to be excluded… decisions have to be taken…” Chakravarty brazened out.
The Wire ‘journalist’ stated, “A manifesto is meant to be specific and precise. You first argued that you can’t do the costing, we’ve explained why costing was necessary. Now, in terms of what you’re talking about, you’re lacking specificity because not only are you uncertain about the number of crops covered, you’ve now raised the question what is the formula which suggests C2+50% might not be the formula.”
Instead of answering the question, Praveen Chakravarty blamed the BJP for not being specific in its manifesto. “We’re not making a budget. We don’t have access to a lot of the information,” he was heard saying.
Karan Thapar emphasised, “I am asking you do you cover all 23 crops and your answer was we could, but we might not. Then you yourself raised the possibility that the formula might not be C2+50%. Two levels of uncertainty have suddenly crept in.”
Conclusion
In a tweet in February this year, Congress scion had earlier claimed, “Farmer brothers, today is a historic day! Congress has decided to give a legal guarantee of MSP to every farmer on crops as per Swaminathan Commission.”
“This step will change the lives of 15 crore farmer families by ensuring their prosperity. This is the first guarantee of Congress on the path of justice,” he had added.
The decision of the Head of ‘Data Analytics Department’ of the Congress to not provide a concrete answer on its MSP promises shows that the party is doubtful about the feasibility of its own scheme, despite its leader Rahul Gandhi claiming to fulfil the recommendations made by the Swaminathan Commission on Minimum Support Price.