Madhya Pradesh farmers' protest: RSS-affiliated BKS blame crisis on central policies

New Delhi: As farmers seethe in parts of the country, demanding financial help from the government, a farmers' body affiliated to the RSS has blamed the Centre's "irrational policies" for the crisis.Farmers were not the Central government's "priority", Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) National Secretary Mohini Mohan Mishra said, demanding that they are given higher prices for crops and farm produce.[caption id="attachment_3536253" align="alignleft" width="380"] Farmers torch vehicles during a protest in Phanda near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. PTI[/caption]"The Centre is more concerned about consumers and rising prices of food items than farmers. They are not a priority for the government," Mishra told PTI.He said farmers were buying agricultural inputs on maximum retail prices."Then why they should get minimum selling price," he asked.The government should at least ensure the selling price was 20-30 percent more than the cost of production, he said.Mishra cited the case of pulses, saying the Centre first promoted its cultivation and then imported cheap lentils."As a result, today farmers are not getting appropriate prices for their produce," he added.Similarly, he said, the government slashed import duty on wheat when there was bumper crop this year.On the ongoing farmers' protests in Madhya Pradesh, however, Mishra said the current turmoil in the state was the creation of "some mischievous" elements.But farmers were also upset because the state government had failed to make "necessary arrangements" for the procurement of their crops, he added.He said the BKS would hold an indefinite dharna from 15 June at all the divisional headquarters against the state government’s anti-farmer policies.