Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi who opposed the rise in fertiliser prices in 2012 when he was chief minister of Gujarat state is silent now. It is his government at the Centre that raised the fertiliser price by 50 percent giving a death blow to farmers across the country.
He opposed the increase in fertiliser prices in 2010. Now, who is responsible for the hike in fertiliser price by 50 percent now in 2022? Then he called the people to defeat Congress. Now the same applies to BJP too, several people went on seeking an explanation from Mr Modi on social media.
In the backdrop of elections in five states in the country, scores of people took to social media platforms questioning the rationale behind hiking fertiliser prices burdening the people who are already burdened by increase fuel prices.
Since the BJP led NDA government came to power at the Centre, a 50 kg fertiliser bag cost Rs 842 from Rs 840. The complex fertilisers bag cost Rs 1,210 from Rs 890. When the BJP came to power the second time, the urea that cost RS 940 in 2018 now increased to Rs 950 after the third time increase.
Besides denying the Minimum Support Price (MSP), the BJP government is refusing to buy the agricultural produce from the farmers particularly the paddy on silly pretexts while the Telangana government has been giving RS 10,000 per acre per year to all farmers in the state.
The Central government has scrapped subsidies and increased prices of fertilisers thus increasing the input cost of farmers throwing them into debt.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao