THE BJP-led NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have yet again betrayed the farmers in distress by going back on their promise of fixing remunerative minimum support prices (MSP) at least 50 percent above the cost of production. The MSP announced for Kharif crops 2015-16 does not meet even the cost of production and in most cases the increase is ranging merely from Rs15 to Rs 50 per quintal. In a press statement issued on June 17, the All India Kisan Sabha said that this does not reflect the actual costs of production and increasing input costs. The MSP of paddy has been increased merely by Rs 50/Qtl to Rs 1410/ Qtl. It falls far below the costs of production in most states. In addition the BJP government has issued an order stating that there would be no procurement from states providing bonus over and above the MSP. AIKS said that the government in its propaganda mode is talking about the Rs 100/Qtl increase in the price of ragi. It is worth noting here that the CACP cost calculations for 2014-15 had put cost of production of ragi as Rs 1793.87/Qtl. Now a full year after that it is announcing an MSP of just Rs 1650/Qtl. For jowar the CACP had calculated cost of production to be Rs 1788.20/Qtl for 2014-15 and has fixed an MSP of only Rs 1570/Qtl for 2015-16. Similarly despite the much hyped Rs 200/Qtl bonus for pulses the cost of production of moong in 2014-15 was Rs 4970.77/Qtl while the MSP including bonus is only Rs 4850/Qtl. The government’s cost calculations are also far below the actual costs incurred by the farmers. The government claims that the Rs 200/Qtl bonus for pulses is going to give a strong price signal to farmers to increase acreage and invest for increase in productivity of pulses. This claim has no basis as the costs of production have further increased over the course of the year and the MSP falls below it in pulses as well as all other crops. The announcement of MSP for Kharif crops 2015-16 comes at a time when deficient rainfall during the last Kharif and unseasonal rains and hailstorm in the Rabi season had led to a fall in production of foodgrains by over 5.3 percent according to government’s own figures. The crop losses due to unseasonal rains and hailstorm in the Rabi season as well as the unprecedented suicides and death of affected farmers has not been taken into account at all by the government. The government’s announcement is making a mockery of the plight of farmers, said the AIKS statement. AIKS has called upon all its units to protest against the BJP government’s insensitive decision and launch massive campaign exposing the BJP government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s doublespeak.