Headlines
Farmers integral to 'Make in India', Rahul tells Modi
New Delhi, April 29
Congress vice president
Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
problems in the agricultural sector, asking him to visit Punjab and
learn about the plight of farmers who are integral to the government's
flagship 'Make in India' initiative. The government hit back, asking him
to visit his own constituency first.
Raising the issue in the
Lok Sabha during zero hour, a combative Gandhi said that his recent
meeting with farmers in Punjab's wholesale grain market revealed the
reality of the country's wheat bowl, where "farmers are crying and
Haryana agriculture minister says those (farmers) who commit suicide are
cowards".
"Government says there should be 'Make in India'... It
is our government, your government, but not farmers' government," he
said.
"Our prime minister is on a tour of India, he must also go
to Punjab. He will know what is happening... Farmer growing wheat is
also 'Make in India'," he said taking a jibe at the prime minister and
his key policy.
The jibe triggered an uproar in the lower house
with members of the ruling alliance protesting the comments and hitting
back at the Congress vice chief, leading Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to
adjourn the house briefly.
Jumping to Modi's defence, Food
Processing Induistries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said though Gandhi
has visited Punjab, he was yet to visit his own constituency, Amethi, in
Uttar Pradesh.
"I would like to ask him when the farmers were suffering inclement weather, including hail storms, where was he then?
"Some people have come back and to reinvent themselves, they are playing a drama here. They should do so in Amethi," she said.
Food
and Civil Supplies Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the Modi
government is "doing the work which you (the Congress-led UPA) didn't do
for the nation".
Intervening in the discussion, Paswan said that
the government has for the first time given a "value cut" as far as the
quality of grain is concerned.
"We have increased the import duties and have also compensated farmers," he said.
He
assured the house that all of farmers' grain would be bought at the
Minimum Support Price (MSP). "By just visiting the mandi (wholesale
market), they are trying to becomes martyrs," he said in a dig at
Gandhi.
"You should thank the prime minister and the government for the support being given to farmers," he said.
Gandhi,
during his visit Punjab - the food bowl state of the country - Tuesday,
had also questioned the prime minister on his 'Make in India' campaign
and asked the the central as well as the Akali Dal-BJP alliance
government in the state to help farmers and labourers who are India's
"spinal cord".
"The prime minister talks about 'Make in India'.
No one does more 'Make in India' than the farmers of Punjab... The
beginning (of 'Make in India') should be done from them.
"When the poor do 'Make in India', is it not 'Make in India'? Is it something else?" he asked.
In
a move aimed to mount pressure on the government over the agrarian
crisis, the Congress vice president traveled to grain markets in
Punjab's Sirhind, Khanna and Mandi Gobindgarh towns on Tuesday in the
second class compartment of a train to interact with farmers about the
problems they are facing with procurement and lifting of wheat stocks.
He criticised the Modi government and the state government for being indifferent to the problems of farmers.
Farmers across Punjab are protesting the tardy lifting of wheat stocks.