People's Democracy(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
Vol. XXXIV
No.
09 February 28, 2010 |
CPI(M) Condemns Urea
Price Hike
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party
of
THE Congress-led UPA government
has decided to implement a Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) regime and
decontrol the
prices of fertilisers. The move will have disastrous repercussions for
the
cultivating peasantry, especially the small and marginal farmers who
are
already facing an acute agrarian crisis reflected in the fact that
suicides by
farmers have crossed the two lakh mark. It is also to be noted that
this move
by the Congress-led government is coming in the context of an
unprecedented
drought and floods that hit large parts of the country in quick
succession,
leading to drastic reduction in the acreage and output of major crops.
● The hike in urea prices by
10 per cent will translate into an increase of nearly Rs 50 per bag.
This move will
push farmers into further distress and is bound to adversely impact
production
of major crops, especially food grains.
● Prices of fertilisers have
been decontrolled, thereby allowing manufacturers to hike prices as
they wish.
Big players in the fertiliser sector will corner huge benefits at the
expense
of the poor farmers. Companies will have the sole right to decide the
retail
prices of subsidised fertilisers at the farm-gate level. Under the NBS
regime
the subsidy on nutrients and consequently subsidised fertilisers will
remain
fixed while the prices will be directly tied to exorbitant
international
prices.
● The proposal to go in for
Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) has been unilaterally taken without
consultation
with the peasant organisations and political parties. The argument that
farmers
were using excessive urea because of its affordability is baseless and
a move
to shift the onus of soil degradation on the farmers alone. The
systematic
dismantling of extension services is not spoken about. Given the status
of
extension services the efficacy of the NBS regime is also questionable.
The CPI(M) strongly condemns this anti-farmer move and calls upon the government to withdraw the move immediately.