The prevailing drought situation in various parts of the country found mention in Lok Sabha on Monday as several members raised concern on the matter with the Opposition Congress demanding a waiver of
The prevailing drought situation in various parts of the country found mention in Lok Sabha on Monday as several members raised concern on the matter with the Opposition Congress demanding a waiver of bank loans and electricity bills for farmers as part of relief measures.
Initiating a debate over the issue of drought in the House, Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress said farmers across the country are facing tough conditions and, therefore, their bank loans and electricity bills should be waived off.
“If you want to learn how to waive off debt, you should learn from our leader Sonia Gandhi,” the Congress chief whip said, apparently referring to the 2008 decision of the Congress-led UPA government to give agricultural debt waiver and debt relief worth Rs 70,000 crore.
Observing that 50 per cent of the country has been hit by drought, Mr Scindia said that 18 states witnessed poor to no rainfall this year.
This is the second consecutive year when the country received deficient monsoon, he added. Expressing dismay over the government’s policies, Mr Scindia said high prices of food items, including pulses, coupled with low yield due to drought have broken the back of the farmers.
Targeting the government, the Congress leader said it is maintaining silence over the sufferings of farmers like it did over the issue of “intolerance”.
Countering this, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said, “We are not sleeping. we are at work.” To this Mr Scindia said, “There is a saying in English that ‘there is many a slip between the cup and the lip’.”
