The standing committee on agriculture has criticised the government's criteria of fixing the Minimum Support Price for the farmers. Now the MSP is generated as per the recommendation of Commission Agriculture Costs and Prices.
The 12-member committee headed by Ram Gopal Yadav, MP, Samajwadi Party said ``the present practice by CACP has become outdated'', and the prices so fixed are not delivering the desired benefits to the farmers''.
The committee, therefore, has recommended that the minimum support prices should be reviewed and it should be 50 per cent more than the weighted average cost of production.
Yadav also said the committee believes that while calculating the costs, the farmers himself should be considered as a skilled worker, and his wages should be calculated equal to that of a skilled labour.
The committee notes that, government's price policy for agriculture commodities seeks to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce with a view to encouraging higher investment and production and to safeguard the interest of consumers by making available supplies at reasonable prices.
Towards this end, the government announces each season Minimum Support