Rajasthan MPs meet PM; Demand compensation for crop damage

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) A delegation of Rajasthan MPs led by Mr Raghubir Singh Kaushal, today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and handed over an eleven-point memorandum demanding immediate compensation to farmers whose crops and houses got damaged in the recent hailstorm in the state.

The delegation included all BJP MPs from Rajasthan, including former Union Minister Subhash Meheria, Mrs Kiran Maheshwari and Congress MPs Mr Karna Singh and Sachin Pilot.

The Prime Minister had assured them that he would look into their demands ''sympathetically''.

The delegation pointed out that 23 districts of the state were affected by the untimely hailstorm, damaging the houses of about 80,000 farmers. It demanded Rs 50,000 as compensation to next of kin of the farmers died and Rs 25,000 to those injured in the mishaps caused by the hailstorm.

The delegation also urged that the farmers should also be exempted from paying two months interest on short-term loans and electricity bills.

UNI