MP demands Rs 1505 cr assistance from centre to help farmers

Bhopal, Jan 24 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Government hasdemanded Rs 1505 crore as part of the special package from theCentre to compensate farmers whose crops got damaged due tocold wave and frost.

"The state government has demanded an assistance ofRs 1505 crore from the Centre as part of a special package toprovide relief to the frost-hit farmers," ParliamentaryAffairs Minister and the State Cabinet Spokesman, NarottamMishra told reporters here today.

However, he said that as per preliminary estimates, thestate farmers have suffered a loss of over Rs 5,000 crore dueto the cold wave and frost.

When asked about the number of farmers who committedsuicide due to financial burden, the Minister after verifyingrecords evaded a direct reply and said that 21 people havemade an attempt to kill themselves.

Despite persistent queries, the Minister did not provideany figure related to total number of deaths in the state dueto the crop failure.

He informed that so far the government has provided arelief of over Rs 153 crore to the affected farmers.

When his attention was drawn towards the statement ofUnion Minister of State for Agriculture, Arun Yadav that theCentre has not received any memorandum from the state on theissue of frost-hit farmers, Mishra said that this was the timeto stand with the farmers and not politicise the issue.

He also said that in case the Centre fails to provideany relief to the farmers, the state will stage protest in ademocratic manner.