Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh participated in a five-hour Lok Sabha debate on farmers’ plight in the country and called it a legacy of the UPA rule. No govt did as much for the rural sector as the NDA with PM himself monitoring the issues, he said. The debate ended in a walk out by the Opposition Congress.
Admitting that suicide is a serious issue, Singh however quoted figures proving its reduction in recent years. According to the NCRB data the number of suicide cases was 12,602 in 2015 which declined to 11,458 in 2016, the Minister quoted.
Radha Mohan Singh also admitted certain lapses in the implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima and said ”we are learning from experience and trying to address the problems”, quotes The Telegraph.
“We have asked the states to set up their insurance companies. Punjab and Gujarat have decided to have their own companies. Other states should follow suit. If the states are keen to protect the farmers from evil designs of private companies, they should take this step immediately”, he said.
Congress leaders including Jyotiraditya Scindia slammed the Fasal Bima yojana and said it works only to the advantage of private insurance companies which have minted money by collecting huge premiums. Singh contested this argument strongly.
”There are complaints from Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, we are looking into them and won’t spare anybody”, Minister assured the House.
Deependra Hooda had earlier alleged that while the premium collected by companies in Haryana alone last year was over Rs 178 crore, the disbursal was less than Rs 2 crore. Minister rubbished this figure
Singh also touched upon green revolution and said the seed of regional imbalance grew from it. He also said the Prime Minister never promised to give input cost plus 50 per cent profit on farm yields.
The Prime Minister initially promised to increase the profit by 50 per cent and later talked of doubling the income by 2022, he asserted.