Monsoon Parliament Session: Govt slammed over agrarian crisis, Congress says farmers get 'bullets for price'

New Delhi: Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday raised the issue of agrarian crisis in the country, saying farmers were being forced to do distress sale of crops in the face of cheaper zero-duty imports. Several members gave notices under rule 267 that allows adjournment of the proceedings to take up a discussion on an issue. [caption id=“attachment_3377170” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rajya Sabha. PTI[/caption] Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said a discussion on the matter has been accepted and the members can raise their points during the debate. Raising the issue, Sharad Yadav of the JD(U) claimed that 15 to 20 farmers were committing suicide every day. He said pulses production has been raised by 33 per cent but the government has lowered the import duty on it to zero, resulting in cheaper shipments into the country. Farmers, he said, are being forced to make distress sale. Digvijaya Singh of Congress said the farmers were getting “bullets instead of price”. Kurien said besides Yadav, Pramod Tiwari of the Congress, Naresh Agarwal of SP, Ram Gopal Yadav of SP, Kapil Sibal of Congress and Sitaram Yechury of CPM had given notice under 267 on the issue. A discussion on the subject has been admitted and the members can raise their points then, he said. Ali Anwar Ansari of the JD(U) through a Zero Hour mention raised the issue of manual scavenging saying this practice was continuing even after the government has declared it illegal. Four workers, he said, died in the national capital due to toxic gases while cleaning a septic tank. “All four are dalits,” he said, adding over 2,500 dalits have lost their lives in last two-and-half-years due to this practice but no cases have been registered or compensation said. While the government on the one hand talks of going to Mars, on the other it provides no equipment or apparatus for such cleaning activities, he said. “Our sensitivities are dead,” he said.