CHANDIGARH: The BJP-led Haryana government on Monday announced the addition of 10 crops to the MSP (Minimum Support Price) list. The crops include Ragi, Soybean, Kalatil (Nigerseed), Safflower, Barley, Maize, Jowar, Jute, Khopra and Moong (Summer). It comes as the agrarian state prepares for Assembly elections later this year, and hundreds of farmers are still camping at its borders with Punjab, demanding MSP on all crops, pension, free electricity and water, and the dropping of cases filed during the 2020 agitation, among other things.In a statement released following the cabinet meeting on Monday, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said the objective of extending the MSP was to stabilise market prices, ensure constant income for farmers, and promote the cultivation of diverse crops.Saini said his government is already buying 14 crops on MSP. “Haryana will be the first state to procure 24 crops at the MSP,” the chief minister stated. While holding a public meeting at the Thanesar assembly of Kurukshetra district on Sunday, he announced the government’s intention to extend the MSP to more crops. The BJP is in a tough spot in Haryana. In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, it lost five of 10 seats to the Congress-led INDIA bloc. Farmers’ bodies have criticised it for barricading the Haryana-Punjab borders and halting their “Delhi Chalo” march. Meanwhile, in other decisions, the state cabinet approved abolishing ‘abiana’ (canal water irrigation charges), extending reservations for Backward Classes Block B (Schedule-II) in Panchayati Raj Institutions and Municipalities and Mukhya Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana-Extension (MMGAY-E) which aims to provide one lakh developed residential plots of 50 square yards in Mahagram Panchayats and 100 square yards in regular panchayats to EWS category.
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