Cong stalls Parliament on Mandsaur firing
Centre says determined to double income by 2022
Police firing on agitating farmers’ of Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, which killed six people last month, rocked Parliament for the second day on Wednesday. The Opposition, led by the Congress, launched a scathing attack on the government for being insensitive to the plight of growers.
Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, in his reply to a more than five-hour-long discussion in the Lok Sabha on the agrarian situation, said the Centre has prepared a fullfledged road map for doubling farmer income by 2022, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said the government was working on various fronts to realise this dream.
He said there was some complaints over the implementation of the electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) and the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The government was working to remove these and initiate an investigation against insurance companies involved in fraudulent practices in the yojana. He also said the government had allocated the maximum for the agriculture and rural sectors and would continue to do so to help the poor and the needy. “We are bearing the burden of wrong policies and the focus of the past 60 years, but are determined to correct these.” He said a new model APMC Act and changes in marketing bylaws were steps to help farmers get better price for their produce.
“We will achieve the goal of doubling farmers’ income by concentrating on allied sectors of agriculture, namely horticulture, fisheries, bee-keeping, agro-forestry, etc,” the minister said. He also said the Centre raised credit disbursal target to help farmers get easier access to institutional credit.
Initiating the discussion, Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said it was sad that 65 farmers have committed suicide in Madhya Pradesh in the past month since the Mandsaur police firing.
Earlier, the Congress and Trinamool Congress, Left and the RJD trooped into the well of the House forcing repeated adjournments. Even Bharatiya Janata Party ally and Swabhimani Paksha MP Raju Shetti sparred with the treasury benches over the issue. “Is the farmer a terrorist? We need a CBI probe into the matter (Mandsaur firing),” Shetti said.
Scindia said the Congress wanted full implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, which had suggested fixing a minimum support price (MSP) that was 50 per cent more than the weighted cost of production, and full waiver of all loans taken by farmers. Scindia said Modi speaks on every issue, but does not utter a word on the Mandsaur firing.
Virendra Singh from the BJP demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss issues related to the agriculture sector.
Barhtari Mahtab of the Biju Janata Dal said the much talked about Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana had many flaws which have to be rectified. It should also be ensured that MSPs are more than the cost of production. “MSPs do not reflect the true floor price of many commodities,” Mahtab said.
Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who also hails from Madhya Pradesh, reminded the Congress about the firing on farmers in Multai in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 when around 24 growers were killed.
Meanwhile, representatives of 150 farmer organisations holding a Kisan Panchayat in Jantar Mantar, to mark the conclusion of their month-long protest march from Mandsaur, decided to extend their agitation. They will now hold protest rallies from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar and regroup in the national Capital on October 2.
“If the government still doesn’t accept our demands, we will go for an indefinite agitation,” a leader associated with the protest said. The farmers are demanding the right price for their produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations and making all farmers debt-free.