BJP, JD(U) members stage walkout

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MARCH 9. The members of the Opposition BJP and JD(U) in the Legislative Assembly today staged a walkout in protest against the ``unsatisfactory'' reply by the Government on the plight of farmers who had suffered steep fall in the prices of agriculture produce.

The walkout followed the reply given by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr. T.B. Jayachandra, who said the Government was doing everything possible to provide market intervention.

The Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna, said his Government was committed to save the farmers from the present difficult situation. He said the Government had decided to increase the allocation for market intervention from Rs. 75 crores to Rs. 100 crores.

He, however, said that the Government had not taken any decision regarding waiving of interest on farm loans. He said he would again talk to NABARD in this regard.

Mr. Krishna was replying to supplementary questions raised by the Opposition members following Mr. Jayachandra's reply.

Saying that the process of procurement of foodgrains was on, Mr. Krishna said he would again request the Centre to further extend the deadline for procurement. He said he would also urge the Centre to convene a meeting of the National Development Council to discuss the issue. Referring to the demand for uninterrupted power supply to irrigation pump sets, Mr. Krishna said that the power situation at present was not encouraging, and that the Government had already initiated steps to strengthen the Power Grid and to streamline power generation and transmission. He said efforts were on to curb power theft and to cut down the transmission losses. Referring to the demand to further step up market intervention, Mr. Krishna reiterated that the Government had decided to enhance the allocation to Rs. 100 crores, and about Rs. 30 crores had already been pooled from the APMCs. The Government had released Rs. 25 crores for market intervention.

Mr. Krishna also agreed to a suggestion made by Mr. P.G.R. Sindhia, leader of the JD(U) Group in the Assembly, that a magisterial enquiry should be ordered into the suicide of farmers to find out the cause for the extreme step before giving compensation.

He said it was not the intention of his Government to make suicide attractive by providing compensation in all such cases. The intention of ordering a magisterial enquiry was to find out why the farmers took the extreme step.

Mr. Jayachandra said the Government had taken all possible steps to provide market intervention and added that the process of procurement of foodgrains was on. The Government would also urge the Centre to extend to the State the same facilities that were given to Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. He and the Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Mr. D.B. Inamdar, had discussed with Union Ministers and senior officials in this regard.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Jagdish Shettar, said the Government's reply was disappointing as no concrete programme had been taken up to solve the problems of farmers. Mr. Shettar said the Government had not shown any inclination in supply of uninterrupted power supply to IP sets. Saying that the Government's reply to the three-day discussions had not addressed the problems, he and other BJP members trooped out of the House.

Mr. Sindhia said although the previous JD Government had waived the interest on farm loans, the present Government had failed to do so. On that ground, he and his party members staged a walkout.

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Section  : Southern States
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