New Delhi, Feb 4 (UNI) The discussion on 'Motion of Thanks’ on President's address resumed in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with RJD Member Prof Manoj Kumat Jha stating that farmers are still the backbone of the country hence the Government should address their concerns raised against the three farm laws.
“It is really painful to hear the agitating farmers being termed as 'terrorists, Khalistani or Pakistani'. In my opinion, he who lacks compassion towards people is the biggest terrorist”, Prof Jha said.
Several Members of the ruling party who have been keen to know the solution of this farmer’s agitation are quiet in Parliament, he lamented.
Denouncing the layers of security arrangements made at the Delhi’s outskirts by the police to prevent the farmers from entering the National Capital, the RJD leader said he has not seen such a security even at the international borders.
Lashing out at the Government, he said that the system of Minimum Support Price had been withdrawn long back in Bihar and it has become a labour supply state. Now the Government wants to Punjab and Haryana the same page.
Taking the discussion further, nominated Member Swapandas Gupta said that the farm laws are for the farmers' benefit and that the top two lakh farmers of Punjab and Haryana have incomes in the top 8 per cent in the country but this scenario was not the same in all states.
“ Eighty per cents of the farmers in the country are marginal farmers and they have to struggle a lot to sustain themselves. They need better price for their produce”, Mr Dasgupta said, adding that the Opposition should not compare the rest of country with some top performing states.
TDP Member K Ravindra Kumar said that the Government needs to find out better solution for the farmer’s protests and raised the issues of Polavaram Dam in Andhra Pradesh.
While participating in the Motion of Thanks, BJP lawmaker Jyotiraditya Scindia said that the 2020 was a challenging year for the whole world. But after a year, looking at the sliding deadly coronavirus cases there is a new sense of energy and hope in the country. “India has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of coronavirus, he says.
India's recovery rate from COVID-19 is high compared to the rest of the world”, he noted.
Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Government for their timely action that contributed to this, and cited the example of emergency to counter allegations that the lockdown was not implemented in an intelligent manner.
Lashing out the Opposition Benches, Mr Scindia said, "The country followed the lockdown during coronavirus pandemic on the request of one person. There was another lockdown in 1975 when the whole country was converted into a jail. This is something I used to stay standing there also”.
Speaking about the violence that took place on the Republic Day, the BJP leader said that the Members of the House have insulted the country by their conduct during the President's Address.
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