Talking to The Indian Express on phone today, Shamsher Singh Surjewala said rising cost of inputs over the years and remunerative prices failing to match the expectations of the farmers had led to a situation whereby farmers, especially small and marginal ones, were finding it difficult to survive. Only a comprehensive package from the government providing economic, medical and educational help to the farmers could relieve them from their distress, he said.

Meanwhile, a large number of farmers from Haryana, Maharashtra and Rajasthan today met UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to demand a better deal for farmers in the forthcoming budget.

“We are going to demand a waiver of bank loans, freedom from the clutches of money lenders, reduction in the rate of interest of bank loans, remunerative prices of crops, a package of rehabilitation and resettlement of families affected by the acquisition of land, including special economic zone (SEZ), introduction of crop insurance at the village level and health insurance for the farmers and poor people,’’ said Surjewala.

Expressing concern at the debt-ridden farmers in the country, he said greedy money lenders had driven a number of farmers in the country to commit suicide. The situation was particularly grave in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and that of Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.

In Haryana, because of the initiative of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to help the farmers, the situation had improved considerably, he said.

Recommending an increase in the MSP of crops, he said there was a need to increase the MSP for wheat by Rs 100 to Rs 200 per quintal more and rice from Rs 700 to Rs 1,100. Also, for assessment of crop damage as a result of natural calamity, the villages should be treated as a unit and not blocks, as was the case at present.