Ruckus in House over PM’s crop insurance scheme
CHANDIGARH: The second day of the ongoing monsoon session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Monday witnessed ruckus over Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY) with opposition INLD and the Congress vehemently terming it as anti-farmer and the ruling BJP saying that Opposition was misguiding farmers.
Uproar began at the very onset of the calling attention motion moved by Congress legislature party leader Kiran Choudhry on the issue, who said the scheme was flawed and aimed at benefitting the private insurance companies. “The government is forcing farmers for the insurance cover by deducting insurance premium from their accounts even as there were many other flaws too,” she said. Congress MLAs, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Karan Dalal and Anand Singh Dangi, backed her.
As agriculture minister O P Dhankar held that there were no flaws in the scheme, which was a remarkably improved version of the scheme, the Congress MLAs staged a walked out, only to return after a few minutes.
Leader of Ppposition Abhay Chautala alleged that the government had rather found out a way to loot farmers as neither all crops, especially horticultural, nor all the types of calamities had been covered in the scheme. While Dhankar held that the opposition MLAs were ill-informed about scheme, Abhay continued to flay it and got instant support of almost all INLD MLAs, following which the INLD members also walked out of the House.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar told the House that that 30% farmers had so far opted for PMFBY during its first year. “We will try to bring 100% farmers under the scheme in coming season as it would be in the larger interest of the farmers,” he added and clarified that those 70% farmers who had not yet been covered under PMFBY would be provided with compensation ranging between `7,500 and `12,000 on account of damage to crops.
Capt Abhimanyu criticised the
CONG, INLD STAGE WALKOUT, TERMING IT ANTI-FARMER ; BJP SEEKS PRIVILEGE MOTION AGAINST DALAL
previous government for misleading the House on the issue and added that the present state government had given `2,400 crore as compensation, which was 15 times more as compared to that given under the Congress regime.
PRIVILEGE MOTION AGAINST DALAL SOUGHT
The House saw pandemonium after Congress senior MLA Karan Dalal alleged corruption in PMFBY, with almost all the BJP MLAs instantly taking on Dalal over the issue. Though deputy speaker Santosh Yadav asked Dalal to withdraw his words and later expunged the same, the BJP MLAs insisted on privilege motion against him.
Khattar said Dalal had levelled serious allegations. “He should give evidence or apologise or be ready for privilege motion,” he added. While Dhankar could also be seen angrily asking Dalal to explain his words and apologise for the same, ministers Ram Bilas Sharma, Anil Vij, and Capt Abhimanyu, besides all the BJP MLAs, continued to demand privilege motion against Dalal. Amid heated exchanges, Dalal and Vij called each other “Jhooton ka baap’’ (father of all liars).
However, Yadav sought Dalal to submit his reply or give evidence for his allegations following which the House would decide on the issue of privilege motion against him. Dalal submitted his reply later in the evening.