While farmers are committing suicides across the country due to crop loss and other agrarian reasons, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Maharashtra has mocked the serious issue calling it a fashion trend. The remarks come at a time when Maharashtra is reeling under an agrarian crisis with 124 farmers committing suicide in the state since January 2016.
BJP MP from North Mumbai Gopal Shetty said, "All farmer suicides are not only because of hunger and unemployment. There is a fashion, a trend is on. If Maharashtra government is giving Rs 5 lakh, another government is giving Rs 7 lakh, Rs 8 lakh. There is a competition going on to give money to farmers," he said.
Condemning the comments, Congress said the "insensitive" remarks by Shetty show BJP's "insensitivity" towards farmers. "At a time when Maharashtra is undergoing its worst-ever agrarian crisis, Shetty's remarks show how insensitive he and his party are towards thousands of farmers who have committed suicide due to debt and crop failure," MRCC president Sanjay Nirupam said.
Ironically, the statement comes just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday where he will highlight the government's initiatives for the development of the agriculture sector and welfare of the agriculturists.
During the 'Kisan Kalyan Mela' at Sehore, he will release the guidelines for operationalisation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana which was approved by the Union Cabinet in January, a PMO statement said.
The scheme will come into effect from the upcoming Kharif season. It envisages a uniform premium of only 2 per cent to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops, and 1.5 per cent for Rabi crops. The premium for annual commercial and horticultural crops will be 5 per cent.
There is no upper limit on government subsidy for this scheme. The provision of capping the premium rate, which existed in earlier schemes, and resulted in low claims being paid to farmers, has been done away with.
Farmers will get claims against the full sum insured, without any reduction. The Prime Minister will distribute soil health cards, and crop insurance settlement claims to select beneficiaries, the statement said.
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