Set up JPC for assessing Kisan Mortality Rate: Advani

Solapur, Apr 12 (UNI) Expressing concern over the large scale suicide of farmers, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader L K Advani today demanded constitution of a Joint Parliamentary Committee for an in-depth study into the issue and to come out with effective solution to end the problem.

He said when Parliament reconvenes on May 10, he would seek the constitution of JPC as suicides were taking place in many states.

Considering the gravity of the situation, it would only be proper to expect the highest democratic forum of the country to frame appropriate response. ''We are making farmers insecure (annadata asurakshit),'' he remarked.

Talking to newspersons on his seventh day of Bharat Suraksha Yatra here, he said farmers in India were going through one of the worst agrarian crisis in recent years with repeated crop failures, inability to meet the rising cost of cultivation, breakdown of institutional credit, indebtedness to money lenders.

The pattern seems to be common and agricultural growth had stagnated and suicides were confined to cotton growing areas in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

This tragic phenomenon is spreading to Punjab, other parts of Maharashtra and Kerala. Even onion and grape farmers were feeling the pinch.

Mr Advani said when he embarked on Bharat Suraksha Yatra, he felt he would be concentrating only on security issues but said economic security was also important and added that the Centre did not even acknowledge the existence, including of the common man, was also significant. Farmers cannot expect the UPA government to provide any solution or succour to them,he said and added can the Centre, which cannot provide security to the rural people, secure the country.

He said India's ranking in the UN's Human Development Index was in the range of 110 to 120 with the infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate, literacy and life expectancy working as basis for determination of HDI.

With distraught farmers setting the new trend of suicides, India has come out with one more contribution to this index - ''the Kisan Mortality Rate'', the BJP leader said.

Drawing the attention to noted developmental journalist P Sainath's book ''Everybody Loves a Good Drought'', Mr Advani said the author had revealed that not a Paise of government's Rs 1075 crore 'relief package' has been disbursed in Maharashtra.

He said the Congress-NCP coalition in Maharashtra had completed eight years in office but still about 5,000 children die due to malnutrition in the tribal areas of the state. Mumbai's infrastructure was crumbling and the performance was 'pathetic'.

Power shortages are common in the state and country, he added.

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