Parliamentarians seek permanent solution to deal with floods, drought

New Delhi: Raising concern over the flood and drought situation in the country, members urged the government to come out with a permanent solution to deal with natural calamities and implement the MS Swaminathan Commission report to improve the agriculture sector. Participating in the resumed discussion in the Lok Sabha on flood and drought situation in the country, P Karunakaran said government should fully compensate farmers affected by flood and drought, besides working out a long-term solution to deal with natural calamities.[caption id=“attachment_1645471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Flood affected. PTI[/caption] “The government should say whether it is ready to accept the Swaminathan Commission report,” he demanded. The Committee, which submitted its report in 2006, had recommended, among other things, that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be at least 50 percent more than the weighted average cost of production. Ram Kripal Yadav (BJP) said 27 districts in Bihar are facing drought like conditions and the state government has not provided any facility to farmers. “Centre should send a team to make an assessment of the situation in Bihar,” Yadav said, adding government must compensate the farmers. Citing the situation in drought-prone Telangana, Bandaru Dattatreya (BJP) said 28 farmers have already committed suicide in the last two-three months period in the state. He demanded that the Centre should allocate 1,000 MW additional power to the state and come up with a loan waiver scheme to help farmers reeling under Rs 1,700 crore debt. Ajay Misra (BJP) demanded that MSP should be set in a manner so that farmers are fully compensated for the losses. He sought full compensation for land and houses destroyed by flood waters and also crop insurance. Others who participated in the discussion included Rajen Gohain, AT Patil (both BJP) and Prem Singh Chandumajra (SAD). PTI