Modi government cuts MSP of seven minor forest produce items

NEW DELHI: The Modi government has slashed the minimum support price of seven of the 11 products covered under minor forest produce collected by tribals in remote forest areas.

The decision comes three years after the previous Congress-led UPA government fixed the MSPfor these products for the first time.

“The decision had to be taken because MSPs had been fixed on the higher side and needed to be rationalised. From now, the prices would only increase,” Tribal AffairsMinister Jual Oram told ET.

The MSP has been reduced to less than half for two products — rangini lac (reduced from Rs 230 per kg to Rs 100) and kusumi lac (reduced from Rs 320 per kg to Rs 150 per kg). The MSP remains the same for two products (gum karaya and sal seed) while it has been increased 13.6% in the case of honey, from Rs 132 per kg to Rs 150 per kg.

The scheme, which had been conceived as the next Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and a welfare programme to cover 100 million tribals, was rolled out at the end of 2013-14 in tribal-dominated Schedule V area states. Its core objective was to obliterate the intermediaries and reach tribals directly.

Officials said the decision to reduce the MSP has been taken in view of demands from state governments, which had been incurring severe losses under the scheme.

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Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/