Shivraj Singh Chouhan outlines govt’s vision for agriculture amid Opposition protest
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, August 5
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday talked about the Union Government’s “vision” for the farm sector amid a bitter clash between him and the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
While delivering the concluding part of his address on the discussion on the working of his ministry, Chouhan slammed the Congress and said agriculture was never its priority.
Was never Cong priority
Agriculture was never Congress’ priority. The Congress has always talked about helping farmers, but it has never done that. It was PM Narendra Modi who launched the cash transfer scheme (PM-Kisan scheme) for farmers. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Agriculture Minister
“The Congress has always talked about helping farmers, but it has never done that. It was PM Narendra Modi who launched the cash transfer scheme (PM-Kisan scheme) for farmers,” Chouhan said.
The discussion on the Agriculture Ministry was raised by Congress’ Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday when Chouhan gave the first leg of his reply. Congress member Digvijaya Singh, a former CM of MP, said six protesting farmers were killed in police firing in Mandsaur during Chouhan’s tenure as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
A furious Chouhan retorted saying, “I have warned if you provoke me, I’ll not spare you.” Chouhan then reeled out instances of farmer killings during the Congress’ tenures.
“Digvijaya Singh has blood on his hands... 24 farmers were killed. In 1986, 23 farmers were killed by police during Congress rule in Bihar. In 1988 in Delhi, on the occasion of the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, two farmers fell to police bullets. In 1988, they killed five farmers in Meerut. In August 1995, six farmers in Haryana were killed in police shooting,” Chouhan said.
This attracted strong protest from the Opposition and the entire Opposition led by Congress’ Sonia Gandhi walked out of the House and boycotted rest of Chouhan’s speech.
The Congress also pressed its demand for a right to reply, which Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar rejected. “There is no right of reply under rule 238(2). If any grievance is raised according to correct provisions, I will consider.”
Chouhan said he had read all speeches of former PMs given from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. “In as many as 15 speeches made by Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first PM, there was no mention of the word ‘farmer’,” Chouhan said.
Without naming Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Chouhan said that one Congress leader, who went to Sonepat during his yatra to meet farmers, was found having more camera persons with him than the farmers present at the site. Chouhan presented a video recording of the Sonepat visit, which the Chairman asked the minister to authenticate and submit during the course of the day.
Chouhan said the Modi government was moving towards climate-friendly agriculture. “Nearly 1,500 climate smart biofortified crop varieties will be developed. The PM will launch 109 such varieties this year,” he said.
Chouhan said PM Modi’s vision is to take a holistic view of health – of humans, of soil, of animals and plants — and said the central government planned to set up 100 horticulture clusters and amend the Pesticides Act for better use of chemicals for agriculture.
The Agriculture Minister also informed that the government had launched an oilseeds mission worth Rs 68,000 crore.
