Rahul seeks jobs, aid for deceased farmers’ families
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded compensation and employment for the kin of farmers who died during the course of their year-long agitation against three now-repealed agricultural laws. He also moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the issue.
His demand came on the same day the government and farm groups seemed to be nearing a deal to end the year-long protests. The government has indicated that the governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are amenable to paying compensation to the kin of farmers who died during the protest. Punjab already provides compensation. Gandhi, the Lok Sabha MP from Wayanad in Kerala, presented before the House a list of 400 farmers from Punjab and 70 from neighbouring Haryana, who, he claimed, died during the protests on farm issues. “The entire country knows that nearly 700 farmers lost their lives during the farm protests. The prime minister apologised to farmers, and he accepted he committed a mistake,” Gandhi said.
The former Congress presidento referred to Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh
Tomar’s written reply in Parliament on November 30 that the government had no record of farmers who died during the protests and therefore there was no question of compensation.
“On November 30, the agriculture minister was asked how many farmers were martyred during the protests and the agriculture minister said he had no data on this. We found out that the Punjab government has given ₹5 lakh compensation each to (kin of) about 400 farmers and jobs to (kin of) 152 farmers,” he said. “I have the list which I am laying in the House. We have another list of 70 farmers who are from Haryana, I am laying this list too in the House.” In a question to the agriculture minister, Gandhi also sought to know whether the government had assessed the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture. The minister, in a written reply, said that during the lockdown, the farm sector functioned smoothly as it was exempted from any restrictions.
Gandhi also asked whether average debt of agricultural households had increased during the pandemic.
In his reply, the agriculture minister said during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Union government extended the date of renewal of short-term farm loans that had become due between March and August 2020 as a relief measure. A similar extension was made in 2021 during the second wave, the agriculture minister stated.