Parliament expresses pain over farmer’s suicide

Parliament today expressed pain and anguish over the suicide of a farmer here, sharing which Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that farmers should not be allowed to die and the government would address the problems which are “very old, deep-rooted and widespread”.

Modi said in Lok Sabha that the problems afflicting the farmers had to be addressed collectively and the government was open to accepting any suggestion to deal with the agrarian crisis.

The House saw an impromptu debate on the issue which lasted for over two hours with members cutting across party lines to express pain and anguish over the matter. Members demanded a judicial probe to fix responsibility.

Rajya Sabha also witnessed anguish being expressed by members, with those from Opposition seeking a CBI and demanding a reply from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the House.

Making a statement after members expressed deep anguish and outrage over yesterday’s incident, Modi said assessment would have to be made about “shortcomings” that occurred before his government came as well as during his 10-month tenure.

“Yesterday’s incident has caused pain to the entire nation. Members here also expressed the pain. I share the pain,” he said about the suicide committed by a farmer from Rajasthan at a rally organised by Aam Aadmi Party here.

Observing that nothing is more important than a farmer’s life or for that matter a human life, he said, “The problem (afflicting the farmers) is old, deep-rooted and widespread and we have to seek solutions in that context.”

He said there should be a “collective resolve to ensure that farmers do not die”. He said it needs to be ascertained as to what “mistakes” have been made and “what shortcomings” have been there before his government came as well as during his tenure.

“The issue of farmers suicide has been a matter of concern for the whole country for many years... We will all have to ponder over where we went wrong and what were the shortcomings. What were the shortcomings in the last 10 months. I am open to any suggestion so that a way could be found. Let a collective resolve come out of this debate to deal with the crisis,” he said.

Modi said different governments have, from time to time, done their bit to address the crisis concerning farmers. .

“Whatever governments could do, they have been doing,” he added.

Responding to the debate, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was standing by farmers and will do whatever is necessary to help them. He termed the farmer’s suicide “unfortunate and shameful“.

Singh sought to turn the tables on Congress after its members raised questions over the handling of the crisis by the government and demanded waiving of loans of farmers as was done by the UPA regime.

He said the loan-waiver was given by the UPA in an election year and without any natural crisis.

To hit Congress, he also quoted a CAG report to say that it was “full of scams“.

“The report talks about what kind of scams happened. It exposed this,” he said, triggering protests from Congress members.

On the farmers’ issue, he said the problems facing them have various dimensions.

He noted that the income from farm sector has been going down consistently and its contribution to GDP is only 14 per cent despite employing over 58 percent of population. The agriculture’s share in GDP was 55 percent in 1951, he said.

“What is the reason that we have been trying to improve the lot of farmers for the last 65-66 years but still 60 percent of the population depends on the farm sector.

“I don’t know whom to call anti-farmer and who pro-farmer. This blamegame should stop,” he said following digs by several opposition members at the BJP government, including its decision to bring a new land acquisition bill.

He cited various decisions taken by the Modi government, including an increase of 50 percent in compensation to farmers and relaxation in crop damage evaluation measures, to make a point about the Centre’s help for farmers.

Farm productivity in India is among the lowest in the world, he said, adding that the children of farmers needed to be diverted to other occupation.

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