MPs demand special session to discuss agrarian crisis
December 15th, 2011 - 9:46 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Dec 15 (IANS) Cutting across party lines, Rajya Sabha members Thursday demanded calling a special session of parliament to discuss the country’s agrarian crisis with nearly 2.15 lakh farmers having committed suicide in the last decade.
Participating in a debate on agrarian crisis and farmer suicides, opposition members pointed to the shortcomings of planning, while several members also sought to highlight how international seed firms like Monsanto are deceiving farmers.
Janata Dal-United member Shivanand Tiwari even said that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar had no righ to continue on his post.
Initiating the debate, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member M. Venkaiah Naidu attacked the government for being inactive in controlling price rise.
He accused the government of not being concerned about 60 percent of the country’s population and expressed apprehensions if the debate could change the situation.
“Nothing is going to change… We are (just) going to discuss. There should be a special session of parliament dedicated to agriculture,” Naidu said.
“The finance minister, agriculture minister, commerce minister, panchayati raj minister, all should sit with (the) prime minister and think. If you don’t take interest in 60 percent population of the country, what are you doing,” he asked.
“Because they (farmers) are not organised, we don’t listen to them. Farmers are not able to strike, is it their weakness… Time has come now after 60 years to think about the farmers,” Naidu said, noting while consumer prices were going up, wholesale prices were coming down.
Participating in the debate, nominated member Mani Shankar Aiyar also called for a special session on agriculture.
“There should be a session of parliament dedicated to agriculture,” he said.
In his speech, Tiwari said: “The agriculture minister has no right to be in his chair. He can be cricket minister, or sugarcane minister for Maharashtra, but not India’s agriculture minister.”
BJP leader Vikaram Verma said that imported seeds from international firms made the crisis worse as they do not germinate for more than one season.
Communist Party of India-Marxist’s Moinul Hassan sought to know if the credit facilities for farmers were actually helping them.
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- Economist Vijay Kelkar visits crisis-ridden Vidarbha - Apr 06, 2012
- Economist Kelkar to meet Vidarbha farmers - Apr 05, 2012
- Five more farmers commit suicides in Vidarbha - May 01, 2012
- MPs team to visit rural areas to probe agricultural crisis: Pawar - Dec 19, 2011
- Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m. - Dec 19, 2011
- BJP plans farmers' parliament in Delhi May 12-13 - Apr 14, 2012
- Farmers' suicides: Parliamentary panel to visit Vidarbha Friday - Mar 01, 2012
- Seven more Vidarbha farmers commit suicide in last 48 hours - Sep 08, 2011
- Trinamool also gives notice on president's address - Mar 14, 2012
- We must have right to disagree in democracy: JD-U MP - May 13, 2012
- Rising ranks of women farmers need better deal: M S Swaminathan (Interview) - May 20, 2012
- Debt drives three more Vidarbha farmers to suicide (Lead) - Apr 20, 2012
Tags: agriculture minister, apprehensions, commerce minister, committed suicide, finance minister, international seed, last decade, maharashtra, mani shankar aiyar, opposition members, panchayati raj, righ, sabha, seed firms, sharad pawar, shivanand, special session, sugarcane, venkaiah naidu, wholesale prices