Government denies news of Swaminathan’s report missing from Agriculture Ministry’s website
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India has denied the news in which it was claimed that the report of agricultural scientist Professor MS Swaminathan has disappeared from the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers.
Kanchan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, has denied these reports by tweeting on social media platform X. He said, the report of MS Swaminathan committee is available on the website of the ministry. He has also shared its link.
In fact, recently it has been announced to honor agricultural scientist Professor MS Swaminathan with Bharat Ratna (posthumously). Amidst all this, the report of Delhi Confidential of Indian Express had claimed that the report written by MS Swaminathan has disappeared from the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers. This claim was made at a time when farmers from many states including Punjab and Haryana are turning to Delhi for their demands including the law on MSP. Farmers demand that the price of their crops should be fixed according to the Swaminathan Commission report. Swaminathan had written this report while holding the post of Chairman of the National Farmers Commission.
Who was Swaminathan, who received Bharat Ratna?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 February announced the award of Bharat Ratna to agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. Swaminathan is considered the father of ‘Green Revolution’ in India. He played an important role in developing high yielding varieties of wheat and rice. He presented a report to increase the productivity of agriculture in India, which is called Swaminathan Report. However, this report has not been implemented yet.
The National Commission on Farmers (NCF) was formed in 2004 under the chairmanship of Professor MS Swaminathan. NCF presented five reports between 2004 and 2006. These reports are known as Swaminathan Report.
In his report, Swaminathan had recommended making a strategy for food and nutrition security in the country. Apart from this, his report recommended that the productivity and sustainability of the farming system be improved. In the report, there was talk of reforms to increase the flow of loans to farmers. In his report, he had suggested ensuring minimum support price (MSP) for farmers’ crops. It is also called C2+50% formula. In the report, it was suggested to give MSP to farmers at least 50 percent more than the average cost of their crop.
