Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday outlined the Union government’s “vision” for the farm sector, listing a set of priorities in Rajya Sabha amid a bitter clash between him and the Opposition.
Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Parliament. (SansadTV)
Chouhan started the concluding part of his address, on a discussion on the working of his ministry, by slamming the Congress.
“The Congress has of course always talked about helping farmers directly. But it has never done that. It was PM Narendra Modi who launched the PM-Kisan scheme (a cash-transfer programme for farmers).”
The attack on Congress triggered vehement protests by lawmakers Randeep Singh Surjewala and Digvijaya Singh, who were joined by Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh. The discussion on the farm ministry was raised by Surjewala on Friday when Chouhan gave the first leg of his speech.
Congress’s Singh, a former CM of MP, pointed towards Chouhan’s tenure as Madhya Pradesh chief minister, when six protesting farmers died in police firing in Mandsaur.
Chouhan responded by saying, “I have warned to not poke me. If you do, I’ll not spare you.” He then listed out instances of farmer killings during the Congress’s various 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 ji, 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.
The Opposition struck back with loud protests, disrupting the House, and walked out. 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.”
Surjewala and Divijaya Singh had sent two letters to the chairman, one seeking a right to reply since the agriculture minister had taken names of Congress prime ministers and the other on Chouhan naming Digvijaya Singh himself.
Continuing his speech after the walkout, Chouhan said he had read all speeches of former PMs given from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day. “I am sad to present this fact, farmers were never the priority for the Congress.”
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 “one leader, who went to Sonipat during his yatra (march) to meet farmers, was found asking how best to pose with them”.
The agriculture minister presented a video recording of the Sonepat visit, which the chairman asked the minister to authenticate and submit.
Talking on farm sector, Chouhan said the Modi government was moving towards climate resilient agriculture. “Nearly 1,500 climate smart biofortified crop varieties will be developed. The PM will launch 109 such varieties this year.”
The minister said PM Modi’s vision is to take a holistic view of health – of humans, of soil, of animals and plant, and said the central government plans to set up 100 horticulture clusters and amend the Pesticides Act for safe use of farm chemicals.
Additionally, Chouhan said the government had launched an oilseeds mission worth ₹68,000 crore and expand irrigation to 1.30 lakh hectares.
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