Waive off loans of drought-hit farmers, give free seeds: Congress

New Delhi: With 10 states reeling under the impact of drought for three consecutive years, Opposition on Thursday asked the government to provide loan waivers for farmers to bring them out of distress and supply free seeds and fertiliser for the kharif season.

Participating in a discussion in Lok Sabha on the situation arising out of drought and drinking water crisis in several states, Ashok Chavan (Congress) said consecutive droughts posed the threat of famine and could turn out to be the worst drought since 1972.

"The immediate need is that the Centre should waive off the loans of farmers. Rescheduling of loans will not help since drought has been there for last three years. Also seeds and fertiliser in Kharif season should be given for free or at a very low price," he said.

Chavan said farmers have suffered a loss of Rs 20,000 crore in Kharif and Rabi crops and should be compensated adequately.

The Centre should come out with White Paper and a comprehensive statement on the drought situation, he said while drawing attention of the House that 3,000 people have committed suicide in Maharashtra.

Lamenting that the Ministers of Home and Finance should have been present in the House during the discussion, he demanded that the Centre should also waive off education fee for children of farmers in the drought affected areas.

"The situation is scary and is moving towards famine. If Centre had acted earlier then this situation would not have arisen. If there is no rainfall in coming days and months, the situation will be like that of the 1972 drought," Chavan said.

He said the amount of Rs 1 lakh relief given to family of farmers who have committed suicide, should be raised to Rs 5 lakh and they should also be provided pension.

The crop condition is being affected because of drought and prices of pulses like urad and chana dal, have risen 150-200 per cent adding to inflationary pressure, Chavan said.

About 70 per cent of India's 125 crore population depends on agriculture for earning their livelilhood and a severe drought affects economic growth and fuels inflation.

States like Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana are among the 10 states which have been impacted by drought.

Chavan said each state should hold all-party meetings to assess the situation arising out of drought and look into ways for proper monitoring of funds allocated towards relief.

Rejecting the contention that sugarcane farming was leading to water shortage in Maharashtra, Chavan said sugarcane was a cash crop and sown in other states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Demanding that the issue of providing relief to farmers should not be politicised, he said the decision on inter- connectivity of rivers should be taken only after ensuring availability of water to all the states.

Initiating the discussion, Jagdambika Pal (BJP) made a strong pitch for inter-linking of rivers, adding that providing relief cannot be a permanent solution to the crisis.

Emphasising that there should be no politics on the issue, he said there was not much work happening on the proposal for inter-linking rivers till the new government came at the Centre.

Pal suggested that there should be law to ensure water harvesting at the time of monsoon.

He appreciated the Centre for releasing funds to deal with drought issues in various states and said the government was focused on water conservation, water management and on providing irrigation facilities to farmers.

Referring to the water crisis in Bundelkhand, Pal said the Uttar Pradesh government has turned down the Centre's offer to send a water train to the region, adding "there cannot be a more shameful thing".

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who was present in the House, then asked Pal why he did not mention this to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and mentioned about a photograph of Pal and Yadav together.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said in a lighter vein that Pal might have told Yadav about the issue when they met.