Maha: BKS workers stage protests in Nagpur demanding remunerative price for farmers

Workers of the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) on Wednesday staged demonstrations in Nagpur as part of its nationwide agitation to press for ''remunerative price'' to farmers for their produce to cover their production cost and called for ''improvement'' in the Centre's new farm laws. Speaking to reporters, the president of the BKS' Vidarbha unit Nana Aakhre said the Union government should either bring new legislation or make changes in the agri-marketing laws enacted last year to add a provision for payment of minimum support price (MSP) for major farm produce.

Farmers should get a ''remunerative price'' for their produce to cover their production cost, which they don't receive in the existing system, he said.

Senior BKS functionary Dinesh Kulkarni had earlier said that remunerative price is the cost of production plus profit. Remunerative price is farmers' right, which should be facilitated by the government. Aakre has indicated that the organization will intensify its agitation in the coming days if these demands are not met. The three farm laws enacted in September 2020 have been projected by the Modi government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove the middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. However, farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of MSP and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.