The Centre promised relief measures to aid farmers across the north and west India reeling from the crop damage caused by unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms over the last three weeks. Members across party lines in the Rajya Sabha demanded financial assistance and loan waivers for those adversely affected here on Thursday.
Former Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of the NCP asked the Government to waive short-terms loans such as crop loans and also interest charged on loans for agricultural equipments. High investment crops like mango, orange and grapes, that are generally cultivated once a year had been destroyed, he said, while also expressing concern about the sliding rates for cotton and sugarcane.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley informed the House that separate teams had been formed for each of the affected States by the Agriculture Ministry. While an assessment of damage has not been conducted across all the States, he stated that the Government would fully sympathise with farmers through this crisis and take every possible step to help them.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, demanded a fair assessment of crop loss and transparent distribution of financial packages which had to be announced immediately.
KC Tyagi of the JD(U) noted that although crop loss was estimated at Rs.22,000 crore, insurance companies had pegged it at just Rs 1,000 crore.