Ballia (UP), Jun 10 (PTI) Any increase in the minimum support price (MSP) for crops is decided by the central government and it is not a subject of the state, Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said on Saturday.

He said the recent raise in MSP for 2023-24 kharif crops was a concrete step by the Narendra Modi government towards increasing the income of farmers.

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Asked if the Uttar Pradesh government was considering increasing the MSP for crops after the Centre did so, the minister said, "It is the central government which determines the prices of food grains. This is not a subject of the state government. The price is fixed by the central government in consultation with states and taking into account a nationwide perspective."

The central government on Wednesday announced an increase of Rs 143 in the MSP for paddy to Rs 2,183 per quintal for this year.

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For 2023-24 kharif crops, MSP has been increased in the range of 5.3 to 10.35 per cent, and in absolute terms it has been increased by Rs 128 to Rs 805 per quintal.

Shahi said the government intervenes to ensure that the agricultural production remains at a level that ensures remunerative prices to farmers.

On the Congress' demand for removal of former Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat from the BJP for terming Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "patriot", Shahi said, "No one will be expelled from the party on the demand of the Congress."

Earlier this week, Rawat termed Godse a patriot while mocking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Targeting the former Congress president, Rawat said merely having the Gandhi surname did not make his ideology Gandhian.

Congress leader Vaibhav Walia said Rawat's remark was an insult not just to Mahatma Gandhi but to the country as well.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)